Neil Briggs is the main antagonist of the second Dirty Harry movie, Magnum Force. He’s easily my least favorite of the major villains in the series. Part of that is because he’s a “shock villain,” and the other part is because, in my opinion, Magnum Force is the weakest film in the Dirty Harry franchise.

Briggs is one of the lead police officers in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I’m fairly certain he’s either Harry’s boss or a close associate of Harry’s superior. He definitely does his best to keep Harry Callahan from catching on to his scheme.

That scheme involves a group of vigilante cops targeting criminals and brutally executing them without trial or arrest. It’s ironic, considering Harry himself nearly crossed the same moral line—especially when he confronted Scorpio, and technically did finish the job when Scorpio tried hijacking that school bus.

Eventually, Briggs reveals himself and tries to turn the tables on Harry. I have no idea how he thought he could possibly win that long game, though.

In the end, his plan unravels quickly when Harry tricks him, leading to an explosive going off in Briggs’s getaway car just moments after he drives away. The whole thing feels a bit anticlimactic.