Arnold Rimmer
Arnold Judas Rimmer is a fictional character in the science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf, played by Chris Barrie. Rimmer is characterised as a second-class technician (first-class technician in the novels) and de facto leader of the mining ship Red Dwarf. Portrayed as snobbish, pedantic, and self-centred, Rimmer is unpopular with his crewmates and is often the target of insults and general ridicule.
| Arnold Judas Rimmer BSC, SSC | |
|---|---|
| Red Dwarf character | |
| First appearance | "The End" (1988) |
| Created by | Rob Grant and Doug Naylor |
| Portrayed by | Chris Barrie |
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | Ace Rimmer, Billy Doyle, Dangerous Dan McGrew |
| Nickname | Goal Post Head, Alphabet Head, Smeg Head, Trans-Am Wheel-arch Nostrils, Grand Canyon Nostrils, Bonehead, Captain Bollocks, Ace-hole |
| Species | Human / Hologram |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Technician, Second Class (series), Technician, First Class (books) |
| Family | Lecturer Rimmer (stepfather) John Rimmer (half-brother) Frank Rimmer (half-brother) Howard Rimmer (half-brother) |
| Relatives | Dungo the Gardener (biological father) Michael McGruder (son; Last Human continuity only) |
After he is killed by a radiation leak during an ellipsis in the series' first episode "The End" (1988) Rimmer is present for most of the series as a computer-generated hologram, indicated by the 'H' symbol on his forehead. From series I-V, Rimmer is intangible as a hologram and unable to interact with his environment, referred to in-universe as 'soft-light'. Come the series VI episode "Legion" (1993), Rimmer's Light Bee is upgraded by the titular character to a 'hard-light' hologram where he is now able to interact with his surroundings as well as being essentially indestructible, yet still able to feel pain. Following the character's departure in the series VII episode "Stoke Me a Clipper" (1997), Rimmer is absent from the show until series VIII, where a flesh and blood version of Rimmer is shown having been resurrected by nanobots with no memory of the hologrammatic Rimmer's experiences and only those of Rimmer prior to the radiation leak in the first episode (likely from when he had his personality-disk last updated before his death). Following a ten-year hiatus after series VIII, the character reappeared as the original hologram Rimmer in the miniseries Back to Earth (2009) onward. Doug Naylor confirmed in 2020 that the Rimmer from Back To Earth onwards is the original Rimmer having returned from his time being Ace Rimmer. Why he returned or what happened to the resurrected version of Rimmer from series eight has not been revealed yet. For a brief time in the feature-length special Red Dwarf The Promised Land, Rimmer is temporarily upgraded to Diamond Light, a combination of both soft and hard light.
The creators of the series acknowledge that Rimmer's surname comes from a snobby prefect with whom they attended school. They joke that only the boy's name was used, and not his personality because that would imply he had one.