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Paul Finnegan is the main antagonist of the 2004 film Sniper 3.

He was portrayed by John Doman, who also played Don Morello in Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, The Driver in Mystic River, Caesar in Fallout: New Vegas, Rodrigo Borgia in Borgia, Carmine Falcone in Gotham, Jonah Vogelbaum in The Boys and Robert Silas in Law & Order: Organized Crime. In the Vietnam flashbacks, he was played by Christopher Lee Lorch.

Biography[]

Sniper 3[]

Paul Finnega fought alongside Thomas Beckett in the Vietnam war. Finnegan was a "tunnel rat", who specialized in going into Viet Cong tunnels and attacking the combatants inside. Finnegan and Beckett became best friends, and Finnegan even saved Beckett's life. Beckett was devastated when he learned that Finnegan died in combat. Beckett returned home after the war and grew close with Paul's widow, Sydney, and their son, Neil. Decades pass, and Neil is married. Beckett arrives and reads a letter Paul gave to him decades back just in case he did not live to see his son's wedding. Some time later, Beckett learns from CIA Director William Avery that Finnegan's death was faked by the U.S. government in the last days before the fall of Saigon so he could be recruited by the CIA. Finnegan had no interest in returning to civilian life, so he eagerly accepted and let his friends and family think he was dead. Finnegan's first operation was to work with the Khmer Rouge to run heroin out of Cambodia, with the illegal profits financing further operations. Years passed and Finnegan had lost his mind, going rogue and living in the tunnels in Vietnam.

Finnegan became a warlord, leader of a group of boys and teenagers, who called him the "King Cobra". He used his heavily armed gang to run drugs and guns out of the jungle and even helped with terrorist activities alongside the Jamaah Islamiyah. The Ho Chi Minh City police arranged a sting operation to capture him. Fearing the publicity if the truth would get out that Finnegan is still alive and now a terrorist, the U.S. government asks Beckett to kill the man who saved his life. Although reluctant, Beckett accepts the mission because he cannot bear to have Paul's widow and son realize what he has turned into. Beckett goes to Vietnam to complete his mission. Beckett is unable to complete the mission, and later comes face to face with Finnegan, who justifies his activities by claiming that he was bored of civilian life and craved excitement. He also expressed disillusionment with his government, who he claimed betrayed him.

Finnegan reveals to Beckett the true reason the government wants him eliminated: after he was recruited and began working for the CIA, Finnegan was in the tunnels with John Gaylor, Bill Avery and an AP photographer named Stevie York who filmed their activities. York watched as the three men, high on drugs, killed nine unarmed civilians (six men and three women) over the course of three days. The men made York destroy the film, but, paranoid from the drugs, killed him and made it look like the NVA did it. Now that Gaylor is a senator from Texas and is running for president, he cannot have Paul get captured and expose his dirty secret, so he recruited his old friend Bill Avery to trick Beckett into eliminating Finnegan. In order to save Quan, Beckett kills Finn by shooting one of Paul's child soldiers in the arm, resulting in Paul being shot in the head instead of Quan. Beckett returns home, shaken and disillusioned from the experience.

Personality[]

Paul Finnegan is easily the most unhinged of all the antagonists in the Sniper franchise. He was completely deluded and disillusioned after his service for the U.S. government. As so much of his work with the CIA involved drug smuggling, he eventually went rogue and made a career out of it, commanding a band of brainwashed children and teenagers who were loyal to his every command. Finnegan's nickname, "the King Cobra", came from the idea that he was the "head of the snake", and if he were to be taken out, his child soldiers would have nothing to fight for, and therefore the rest of the snake would die. Finnegan was so selfish that he saw nothing wrong with abandoning his wife and son and letting them think he was dead just so he was free to pursue the thrills of jungle combat. Finnegan's obsession with thrill-seeking is his most prominent character trait, as he was willing to turn to terrorism and drug running even as an older man because he was incapable of slowing down. In many ways, he is a dark mirror to his former best friend, Thomas Beckett, as both men feel worthless if they are not killing. However, Beckett refuses to kill innocents and cause harm to civilians, unlike Paul. Finnegan was also a nihilist, and once claimed that he watches the world descend into hell every day and is "just trying to find [him]self a nice comfortable seat with a good view."

Navigation[]

Villains

Sniper El Cirujano | DeSilva | General Miguel Alvarez | Raul Ochoa Sniper 2 Captain Marks | Scarred Sniper | General Mile Valstoria Sniper 3 King Cobra | William Avery | John Gaylor | Richard Addis Reloaded “The Italian” | Colonel Ralf Jäger Legacy David Simpson Ghost Shooter Ravshan Gazakov Ultimate Kill El Diablo | Jesús Morales Assassin's End Lady Death