Travis Bickle

Travis Bickle is the protagonist of the 1976 film *Taxi Driver*, a mentally unstable Vietnam veteran who drives a cab through New York City's seedy nightscape and descends into violent vigilantism.

The character has become shorthand for a certain type of alienated loner—socially isolated, simmering with resentment, convinced of his own moral mission: He's got real Travis Bickle energy.

The name evokes someone teetering between righteous crusader and dangerous sociopath, often invoked when discussing mass shooters or incels radicalized by loneliness and perceived rejection.