Eric Coulter in Divergent: Who He Is and Who Plays Him

Eric Coulter is a leader in the Dauntless faction, the brave and fearless group that Tris chooses at the end of her aptitude test and choosing ceremony. He is played by Jai Courtney, who is billed fourth in Divergent (2014), directed by Neil Burger, and seventh in Insurgent (2015), directed by Robert Schwentke. The first film's credits list the character simply as "Eric", while Insurgent uses the full name Eric Coulter, so both forms refer to the same person.

The world he belongs to is a walled future Chicago divided into five factions: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless and Erudite. In Divergent (2014), Tris joins Dauntless and begins an initiation in which trainees are ranked and the lowest are cut and left factionless. That ranking system, and the hard culture around it, is the setting in which Eric first appears. If you want the wider picture of how the factions work, our guide to the divergent factions covers it.

Eric is one of several Dauntless figures who matter to the story, alongside the leader Max and the instructor known as Four. He is not one of the lead heroes, but the way the series treats Dauntless changes once he and Max side with Erudite. For the full list of figures, see the divergent characters page.

Eric's closest working relationship is with Max, the Dauntless leader played by Mekhi Phifer, and his most important alliance is with Jeanine Matthews, played by Kate Winslet. His clearest opposition comes from Tris and Four.

Max and Eric appear together in the Insurgent setup as the Dauntless leaders who join Jeanine's side in the search for the box, which only a Divergent can open. In Insurgent the pair capture Tris after the attack on Candor, which places Eric directly between the Dauntless leadership and the heroes.

On the other side, Tris and Four are the people he pursues. Four is the instructor Tris meets in Divergent (2014), and in Insurgent he is the one who rescues her from capture. Around them are the companions who flee Dauntless with them: Caleb Prior, Peter Hayes and Christina. Four's mother, Evelyn Johnson-Eaton, leads the Factionless, a separate force that also stands against Erudite.

Eric is sometimes confused with other Dauntless names. Al, played by Christian Madsen, is a different character who appears in Divergent (2014), and Tobias is the real name behind Four, not Eric.

In my opinion, Eric's best scene is his capture of Tris in Insurgent, because it is the moment the series makes its Dauntless villainy concrete. Up to that point the film has treated the box as an abstract goal, and Eric turns it into a hunt with a specific person at the end of it.

It could be argued that the scene works because of the setup around it. The Candor trial has just strained Tris's bonds with her friends after she admits she killed Will, and the Dauntless attack lands on a group already divided. Eric and Max take her at the point where she is most isolated, which gives Jai Courtney a clear job: to be the immediate danger while Jeanine stays the distant planner.

His earlier appearance in Divergent (2014) is a quieter pleasure. The first film is about initiation, rankings and a faction that prizes courage above almost everything else, and Eric suits that culture. That being said, I think the sequel gives him far more to do, and it is the better showcase of Courtney's work in the series.

If you are new to the saga, watch both films in order before judging the character, since Eric's meaning depends on seeing Dauntless before and after it is turned. The divergent movies in order guide sets out the sequence.