Rick Deckard is the protagonist in Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? as well as Ridley Scott's 1982 science fiction film Blade Runner, based on the novel. In the film, Rick Deckard was played by Harrison Ford.
Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter, or "Blade Runner", a special member of a police department (San Francisco in the book, Los Angeles in the movie) who is employed to hunt down and "retire" artificial manufactured humanoids ("replicants" in the film, "androids" in the novel). Since they were declared illegal on Earth, it is up to the Blade Runners to "retire" (kill) any that find their way to Earth. At the beginning of the film, Deckard is called out of retirement after a group of unusually brutal replicants hijack a shuttle to Earth, intending to infiltrate their place of manufacture and extend their four-year lifespans. Deckard is reluctant to resume work, but is told he has no choice and must use some of "the old blade runner magic" to succeed. He follows the model of a film noir detective, mixing pursuit of clues and interviews with suspects with brutal violence. Like many noir heroes, he finds it hard to turn down a "damsel in distress," (the replicant Rachael) when she asks for his help.
The original novel's plot is similar, except that Deckard is an active bounty hunter, rather than retired; he is never referred to as a "blade runner" as this term is not used in the book; he is instructed to hunt down six androids (a total of eight having escaped); and the androids are not aiming to extend their lifespan, but simply to escape slavery on the colonies.
There are lengthy debates among the movie's fandom on whether Deckard is a replicant himself. The Director's Cut DVD of the movie seems to lean towards the idea that Deckard is a replicant, as new footage was added that supports that side of the argument. Actor Harrison Ford has stated that when he and director Ridley Scott were discussing the character prior to filming, they both agreed that Deckard was not a replicant. However, in multiple subsequent interviews, director Ridley Scott has come forward stating that Deckard is in fact a replicant. Ridley also states that Harrison Ford has given up the idea of Deckard being human.
The original novel includes a similar question, but in a more subtle form. It is made far more certain that Deckard is not an android. However, he is a Mercerist (he uses a device called an "empathy box" to commune with other humans in the experience of a mysterious, unknown man named Mercer, who may or may not exist; this is part of the evidence that he is not an android, as no android has ever been able to do this), and he makes use of a device called a "Penfield mood organ" which allows him to "dial" any emotion or state of mind he wishes to experience, at any moment, for reasons of practicality or pleasure. (Neither of these have any analogue in the film.) As such, although Deckard is physically human, the question of whether he is "human" by any meaning of the word in the reader's world is left open.
In K.W. Jeter's Blade Runner novels, Rick Deckard is rediscovered by the Tyrell Corporation, who want to use him to retire the mysterious "sixth replicant" from the group he last hunted. (These novels use the character of Deckard as shown in the movie, not the original novel.) This mission ends up leading to further adventures involving various conspiracies between the Tyrell Corp., the United Nations, and Replicant Sympathizers.
It has been suggested that Rick Deckard's name may be a punnish reference to René Descartes, whose philosophical writings include several on the topic of what is and is not human, as well as the concept of the human body as a machine. This interpretation is reinforced by the reference to his famous statement "I think, therefore I am", by the character Pris (to the robotics engineer/scientist J. F. Sebastian) : Roy: "We're not computers, Sebastian. We're physical." Roy's face is almost scowling now. Pris gets up and says with a smile, "I think, Sebastian..." she puts her arms around his shoulders, "...therefore I am."
