Axel Torvalds

In the first few reels of the film, this character seems as though he may feature quite prominently in the plot, but unfortunately the screenwriters use him as a plot tool: after attempting to flee into L.A. and snitch to the FBI, he gets killed by Gabriel Shear's (John Travolta's) henchmen, thus necessitating the subsequent coercive employment of the ex-hacker Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman).

The character is not listed in the credits or on the movie's official website; however, according to The Internet Movie Database, the character of Axel Torvalds was played by Rudolf Martin.

Note (if it wasn't obvious already) that this character's name is most certainly a reference to Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux.

In the film Swordfish, Axel Torvalds is the worlds most wanted hacker. Charged with 24 counts of Electronic Crime in seven different countries. In this movie made by Time Warner, Torvalds is a cocky Finn, who speaks German as a first language instead of Finnish, and gets a bullet in the forehead while being an ass in front of a one way mirror. In the film he is killed by Shear's mercenarys so he does not reveal to the FBI all he knows about Gabriel Shear. Such as the fact the fact that he and Shear are actually working for Senator Reisman.