History Characters / TheThing1982

* AdaptationJobChange: He was a meteorologist in the book. Here, he's a helicopter pilot.

%%* CanonForeigner

%%* DeadpanSnarker

'''[=MacReady=]:''' ''(After The [[spoiler: Blair-]]Thing roars at him)'' Yeah, ''fuck you too!''

'''MacReady:''' ''(After The [[spoiler: Balier-]]Thing roars at him)'' Yeah, ''fuck you too!''

* BaldOfAwesome: No hair and takes no shit.

->'''Played by:''' T. K. Carter

->'''Played by:''' David Clennon

-> '''Played By:''' Larry P. Franco

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/naulsface_274.jpg]] [[caption-width-right:320:''"Maybe we at war with Norway."'']]

* AdaptationPersonalityChange: He's more paranoid and nervous in the book (athough he dies before The Thing's imitation properties are fully revealed in the film). Considering that he survives the book and [[spoiler: is victim #4]] in the movie, he's certainly ProperlyParanoid.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: To his credit, there's no way Gary could've known what was going on, but his killing the Norwegian ensured [[spoiler:the survival of the Dog-Thing.]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: Never tells a single person that he dropped Gary's keyes when he came upon Bennings being assimilated. Not even when both Dr. Copper (the only one with access to the blood storage) and Gary (Who has the only key) are being accused of being Things.

* AnimalisticAbomination: It also spends most of the time disguised as a dog, and in the 2011 prequel it first surfaces as an insect/arachnid like thingie that may or may not be a distorted form of the alien pilot. [[spoiler:In Campbell's novel, it is also implied it assimilated an albatross, and is now flying towards us.]]

* LovecraftianSuperpower: More like Lovecraftian Abilities, but it still plays the tropes straight when it weaponized body horror, creating mouths and claws out of nowhere, spliting its form into two beings, and much worse.

One of the few survivors of the Norwegian outpost chasing after the Dog-Thing. For more information on him, see [[spoiler:Lar]]'s folder [[Characters/TheThing2011 here]].

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: The last time we see him, he's walking down some stairs. The original script had him getting attacked by a jack-in-the-box like alien, only they cut the scene as the special effects didn't look real enough, and Carpenter liked leaving it ambiguous anyway. Another scene, which made it to storyboards but was never filmed, showed him [[CruelAndUnusualDeath being eaten alive from the inside out by a series of Thing-tentacles]].]]
** [[spoiler: In the novelization of the film, Nauls kills himself during his, [=MacReady=]'s and Garry's attempt to burn down the Outpost. He is cornered by The Thing and stabs himself in the throat with a splintered piece of wood to avoid being assimilated by The Thing.]]

* AdaptationPersonalityChange: He's more paranoid and nervous in the book (athough he dies before the The Thing's imitation properties are fully revealed in the film). Considering that he survives the book and [[spoiler: is victim #4]] in the movie, he's certainly ProperlyParanoid.

** [[spoiler: In the novelization of the film, Nauls kills himself during his, [=MacReady=]'s and Garry's attempt to burn down the Outpost. He is cornered by the The Thing and stabs himself in the throat with a splintered piece of wood to avoid being assimilated by The Thing.]]

%%* BadassMustache

* BadassBeard: Unlike some of the other team members (who presumably grow one out due to the frigid Antarctic weather), Mac's beard also serves to show him as a badass; he kills more Things than anyone else in the film.

%%* BadassBeard

* LovecraftianSuperpowers: More like Lovecraftian Abilities, but it still plays the tropes straight when it weaponized body horror.

!!R.J. [=MacReady=]

!!Dr. Blair

The camp's Biologist.

!!Nauls

!!Palmer

!!Childs

-->'''Played by:''' Creator/KeithDavid

!!Dr. Copper

!!Vance Norris

!!George Bennings

!!Clark

* BadassBeard

!!Garry

The Leader of the camp.

!Fuchs

Dr. Blair's Assistant.

!Windows

!!The Thing

Yes, they thought I was a dog - But I'm the Thing!]]''\\

* MindHive: Each individual Thing cell is technically it's own organism, but the ones in a given clump all share a single intelligence between them the same way your brain cells do.

!!The Norwegian[=/=][[spoiler:Lars]]

One of the few survivors of the Norwegian outpost chasing after the Dog-Thing. For more information on him, see [[spoiler:Lar]]'s folder [[Characters/TheThing2011 here.]]

* BilingualBonus: His attempts to warn the Americans sounds like gibberish, but that's because he's speaking Norwegian. Audiences who knew the Scandinavian language would've deduced something's wrong about the dog at least half an hour before the Thing in it reveals itself.

* BilingualBonus: His attempts to warn the Americans sounds like gibberish, but that's because he's speaking in Nordic. Audiences who knew the Nordic language would've deduced something's wrong about the dog at least half an hour before the Thing in it reveals itself.

-->''"Somebody in this camp ain't what he appears to be. Right now that may be one or two of us. By spring, it could be all of us."''

-->'''Played by:''' Creator/RichardDysart

-->'''Played by:''' Charles Hallahan

-->''"I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter '''TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!'''"''

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Inverted. His story counterpart was described as being well-built, something Norris is sorely lacking here.

* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler: He's infected by one of the Things, while his original character remained a human.]]

->'''Played by:''' Thomas G Waites

* EldritchAbomination: [[DownPlayed Downplayed]]. The Thing embodies LovecraftianSuperpower completely, with it's shape-shifting, tentacles, and being able to become any living creature down to the memories. It's functionally immortal, can assimilate any higher lifeform and completely warps the laws of thermodynamics just to exist. But it's more of a borderline case between AnimalisticAbomination and a true eldritch monster. It's like a ''lesser'' Eldritch horror (such as a Shoggoth) - its "native" forms are imperfect and can be destroyed by something as simple as a flamethrower. It's abilities also only extend to itself and those it infects. It can't bend the laws of physics in seemingly impossible ways or [[ClarksThirdLaw use abilities that could be deemed magic by humans.]] Like any EldritchAbomination, however, just being in the presence of a Thing is enough for most ordinary people to promptly BSOD, which the titular Thing takes full advantage of.

* AdaptationalHeroism: A minor case, since he's still fairly heroic in the film anyway, but the novelization has him utterly racked with SurvivorsGuilt for failing to save [[spoiler: Bennings]] while out on the ice.

%%* CanonForeigner

%%* CoolShades

%%* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Melancholic.

%%* BaldOfAwesome

->'''Played by:''' Creator/TKCarter

->'''Played by:''' Creator/DavidClennon

-->'''Played by:''' Creator/CharlesHallahan

->'''Played by:''' Creator/PeterMaloney

->'''Played by:''' Creator/DonaldMoffat

->'''Played by:''' Creator/JoelPolis

->'''Played by:''' Creator/ThomasGWaites