Gaff

Gaff
Biographical information
Occupation	Police officer (formerly - retired)
Affiliations	LAPD (formerly - retired)
Physical description
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Hair color	Black (formerly) White
Eye color	Blue
Behind the scenes
Portrayed by	Edward James Olmos

Gaff was a police officer with the LAPD who escorted Blade Runner Rick Deckard during his assignment to retire a group of renegade replicants.

He had an affinity for creating origami figures.

Biography

2019

Gaff was sent by his superior, Captain Harry Bryant, to retrieve Deckard in order to give him the assignment. He presented his compulsory invitation to Deckard in Cityspeak, which Deckard pretended not to understand. Upon hearing that Bryant wished to see him, Deckard reluctantly joined Gaff on a flight in his spinner to the LAPD. 

Upon arrival at the LAPD, Deckard and Gaff take a seat in Bryant's office. Deckard learned of the escaped replicants and his job to retire them before word got out to the public that there were replicants on Earth. Gaff, meanwhile, constructed an origami chicken.

After leaving the Tyrell Corporation and introducing Deckard to Rachael, Gaff and Deckard went to the replicant Leon Kowalski's apartment at 117 Hunterwasser to investigate his whereabouts. While Deckard explored the bathroom, finding several scales (belonging to Zhora), Gaff created more origami. This time, he made a man with an erection.

Gaff met Deckard shortly after his final fight with the replicant leader Roy Batty, complimenting him on a job well-done. He mockingly noted, referring to Rachael, "It's too bad she won't live, but then again, who does?"

Later, while Deckard retrieved Rachael from his apartment and they made their escape, he noticed one of Gaff's origami creations outside his apartment, that of a unicorn like the one in a dream Deckard had. After recalling Gaff's enigmatic final words, Deckard left.

2049

Thirty years after Deckard's disappearance, Gaff had retired and was living in a care facility. Officer K met him during his investigation into the whereabouts of Deckard and Rachael's child, where the two talked about Deckard. Enigmatic as always, Gaff remarked that he knew Deckard was not long for this world because of "something in his eyes." Gaff remarked that Deckard probably got to be alone, implying that was what he wanted. Gaff placed an origami sheep on the table in front of K.

Alternate continuity

In Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human, Gaff dies while on an assignment. Bryant attends his funeral and displays some distaste towards the epitaph written in Cityspeak on Gaff's grave.

Behind the scenes

Actor Edward James Olmos mostly created the city-speak on his own, using a variety of his own extensive language experience.

Origami

During the events of both films, Gaff leaves several origami figures representing different animals. Each has its own meaning, and there are many interpretations:

Origami	Location/Event	Interpretation
Chicken	Gaff leaves a chicken on Captain Bryant's desk right as Deckard is about to refuse Bryant's demand that he return as a Blade Runner.	Calling into question Deckard's courage, implying he is running away from his fears instead of facing them.
Man	While investigating Leon's apartment, Gaff leaves a man with an erect penis on the dresser after Deckard finds the scale in the bathtub.	Deckard's impending romance with Rachael, what his mind is focused on.
Unicorn	Before Deckard and Rachael flee LA, Deckard picks up an origami unicorn that Rachael nearly steps on in the hallway.	The unreliability of memory; Gaff's knowledge of Deckard's true identity.
Sheep	When K is wrapping up his interview with Gaff, the retired cop reveals a sheep he was making during their conversation.	Implying K's status as another cog in the machine; nothing special, only following orders. Also a reference to the source novel.