The Scorpio Killer is my personal favorite major antagonist in the entire Dirty Harry franchise. He was loosely inspired by the Zodiac Killer, who is, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating and chilling murderers of all time.

Scorpio isn’t exactly like the Zodiac, though. He only appears in a ski mask once, taunting Harry to find the kidnapped girl or something. It’s a good scene, but it doesn’t quite reach the terrifying level of the real-life Zodiac, who once appeared at Lake Berryessa wearing a full hooded costume while attacking two random victims in broad daylight.

Unlike the real Zodiac, Harry actually gets information on Scorpio, discovering that he lives in some kind of storage room inside a sports stadium. Harry nearly kills him then and there, but Scorpio has information about the kidnapped girl, so Harry arrests him instead.

However, the justice system turns against Harry because of his illegal tactics, and Scorpio walks free. Scorpio even hires someone to beat him up so he can frame Harry and try to get him thrown off the police force.

Eventually, Harry catches him attempting to harm children on a school bus—a threat the real Zodiac once made but never acted on. Harry saves the day, killing Scorpio with his last bullet, and then quits the force in frustration. Of course, by the next movie, he’s a cop again…