Rick Deckard is a fictional character and the protagonist of Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.

She descends into a depression over the state of humanity, and is able to find the empathy necessary to care for an electric toad at the end of the novel.

[citation needed] If the viewer takes the perspective that Deckard is a replicant then the "ex-wife" only becomes an implanted memory.

Ford reprised the role for the sequel, portraying an older Deckard who is hiding in the radioactive ruins of Las Vegas, violently resisting intrusion.

Prior to the events of the film, Deckard's replicant lover Rachael became pregnant with his child, but died in childbirth.

Screenwriter Hampton Fancher has said that he wrote the character as a human, but wanted the film to suggest the possibility that he may be a replicant.

"[7] During a discussion panel with Ridley Scott to discuss Blade Runner: The Final Cut, Fancher again stated that he believes Deckard is human (saying that "[Scott's] idea is too complex"[12]), but also repeated that he prefers the film to remain ambiguous.

"That was the main area of contention between Ridley and myself at the time," Ford told an interviewer during a BBC One Hollywood Greats segment.

[16] Douglas Trumbull, the film's visual effects supervisor, stated that he does not know Deckard's true nature and that the issue is an enigma.