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Wikus
Wikus van de Merwe
Played by: Sharlto Copley
A completely ordinary MNU agent who finds himself in an extraordinary situation. When tasked with evicting the aliens from the titular district, Wikus is sprayed by a mysterious alien liquid. He begins to undergo an unusual transformation into something inhuman, forcing him to go on the run.
- Action Survivor: Once he manages to wrap his head around his situation, he and Christopher both wield the prawns' weapons against the MNU forces, and even dons a giant mecha-suit in the final battle.
- And Then John Was a Zombie: He becomes fully mutated into a prawn by the film's end, but he seems to still be himself, even crafting metal flowers for his beloved wife.
- Amoral Afrikaner: Subverted. He starts out doing pretty reprehensible things, but he is not a monster. Over the course of the movie, he begins to show more of a conscience, as more of MNU's atrocities come to light and as he starts transforming.
- Anti-Hero: Starts off as an Anti-Villain, then evolves into an Unscrupulous Hero over the course of the film.
- Apologetic Attacker: In the MNU laboratory, he's forced to fire a Prawn weapon at several dead pigs. Then when they bring in a live alien subject to shoot at he adamantly refuses until physically forced to, where he apologizes to the Prawn before blowing it to chunky giblets.
- Break the Haughty: He starts off as a MNU agent who is quite an asshole to the prawns, insulting, belittling, and even encouraging harm towards them when they so much as pose a fair question. Once he starts becoming one of them, however, he spends quite a bit of the film as a nervous wreck.
- Character Development: Over the course of the film, he eventually stops his It's All About Me mentality and gains sympathy for the prawns, even almost committing a Heroic Sacrifice at the end to allow Christopher and his child escape to the mothership.
- Chew Toy: Once the MNU gets their hands on him, he's subjected to torture and very painful experiments, with not a single person caring about his well-being. Even when he manages to escape, he's an instant fugitive, having to steal food from a restaurant when everyone turns on him, and eventually eating cat food when he runs out of options. Even by the film's end, he's stuck as an alien until Christopher returns, but he at least seems a little calmer.
- Determinator: He manages to escape from the MNU and is not only determined to stay away from them and get back home to his wife, but does whatever it takes to get Christopher the stuff he needs, if only in hope that it'll "cure" him.
- Dirty Coward: Even while armed to the teeth in a Mini-Mecha, his first instinct is still to run and even almost leaves Christopher at the end out of pure cowardice. Even Koobus lampshades that.Koobus: And keep on running, you fucking coward. Run! Run!
- Duality Motif: The iris of his left eye turns gold (and huge) at around the seventy-second hour of his transformation into a Prawn, while the other retains its original color, even after he has transformed completely.
- Good Is Not Nice: He's most certainly not the villain of the story, and eventually helps Christopher and his son (and, by extension, stops being so prejudiced to the aliens). That said, even after he starts getting better, his situation keeps him as an easily-provoked wreck. He even knocks out Christopher and attempts to take the ship for himself.
- Fire-Forged Friends: With Christopher, by the end. Though initially furious when Christopher confesses that coming back to Earth will take years, he eventually helps in getting him and his son to the ship.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Until it becomes a total conversion.
- Happily Married: Shown several times to be quite smitten with his wife and often makes her hand-made gifts. He even goes on a tangent while being filmed to talk about how she looks like an angel.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: The MNU spread news stories about him having sexual relations with a number of prawns while in District 9 and his transformation being a result of catching an STD from them in an effort to hinder his attempts at avoiding capture.
- Hidden Depths: He has quite the artistic side. As noted below, his bumbling persona is at least partly an act; however, he is so far in over his head and freaked out throughout the movie that it's hard to gauge how intelligent he really is.
- Jerkass: At times, and intentional.
- Karmic Transformation: Remember the scene where he kills a bunch of baby prawns? Suddenly, seeing him turn into a prawn is a lot more poetic. It's also interesting in that it's probably what saves him in the end. If he hadn't turned entirely into a prawn and blended in with the others in District 9, he would've likely been found, captured and sliced up in an MNU laboratory.
- Large Ham: He becomes very loud and easily furious when he's on the run from the MNU, and contributes the vast majority of F-bombs in the film in his rage.
- Lawful Neutral (Invoked by Word of God): Interviews with the creators of the film have said that Wikus is this. He's basically an Obstructive Bureaucrat who is obsessed with rules.
- Literal Transformative Experience: Wikus begins the film as a cheery, non-violent happy-go-lucky bureaucrat, unconcerned with the plight of the Prawns and actively participating in MNU's exploitation of the alien refugees. As a result of his transformation into a Prawn, Wikus is reduced to a desperate, panicky shell of his former self, prepared to do just about anything to survive and be reunited with his wife; more importantly, he also ends up growing a conscience and taking the side of the Prawns by the end.
- Noble Bigot: He very much dislikes the aliens and everything about them, but he becomes a better person as the film goes on, even putting his hatred aside to help Christopher.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: A rare protagonist example.
- Oppose What You Suffered: Wikus initially does not seem to mind harassing and even killing the aliens while he is still human. It is only later, when he hasn't only started turning into an alien himself, but has also been treated as less than human and even been experimented upon by humans that he starts fighting alongside the aliens, though it is not made clear whether he is truly doing this because he, having suffered the same treatment, now sees it as wrong and fights it for that reason, or because he still believes he needs to protect the aliens so they can turn him human again.
- Pet the Dog:
- Wikus' obvious love for his wife is what keeps him sympathetic at the start, even when he's still doing awful things to the poor Prawns.
- Our first indication that he's not a complete asshole towards Prawns is when he loudly objects to being forced to shoot one simply to test an alien weapon.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Prior to his Character Development he seems to bear no ill will towards the Prawns and is really just carrying out orders, but due to his condition and the realization of what the government is doing with them he seems to better empathize with them than he did previously.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Of the 137 times the f word is used, almost all of them come from him.
- Took a Level in Badass: Though it takes him a long time — nearly the entire film — to get there, it's spectacular when it happens.
- Took a Level in Kindness: He gains one after his contact with the alien fluid.
- Unskilled, but Strong: He's able to control a Mini-Mecha, though he unfortunately has no idea how to use it.
Christopher Johnson
Christopher Johnson
Played By Jason Cope
An alien in District 9 with a young son, secretly building a ship so he can leave Earth.
- Action Dad: He'll do anything to protect his son.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He wants peace between his people and the humans, but he'll fight when he needs to.
- Break the Cutie: He loses a great deal of his determination to keep going when he sees what the MNU have been doing to other aliens. Even Wikus apologizes for the brutality for it.
- Chew Toy: On top of being in the same situation as the other aliens—forced to live in slums, hated by just about everyone, and pushed around by any and all officials—he gets roped into Wikus' situation. Thus, he spends much of the film fighting for his life, and even getting knocked out by the very person he was trying to help.
- Creepy Good: For all that he looks like a prawn, Christopher is arguably the wisest and most moral character in the film.
- Determinator: He has spent years trying to get together enough components to get his ship going so he and his son can go back to their home. Even in the face of the MNU trying to kill him and Wikus, he still keeps his mind on getting what he needs.
- Deuteragonist: After Wikus, Christopher is the most central character in District 9.
- Fire-Forged Friends: He and Wikus reach a mutual respect as they fight against the MNU together.
- Law of Chromatic Superiority: He is a different color from the rest of the prawns (green) and he is clearly more intelligent and driven than the rest of them. It's implied that he's likely from a different caste than them and that the rest of them are drones, similar to an ant colony. He's also the only character who regularly wears red.
- Meaningful Name: See Messianic Archetype.
- Messianic Archetype: Just switch the initials of Christopher's name. In case that wasn't obvious enough for you, his first name is Christopher.
- Papa Wolf: To Little CJ. Wikus manages to break him out of his Heroic BSoD after finding the lab by reminding him that his son still needs him.
- Some Call Me "Tim": His name is not actually Christopher, of course, but humans assign names to the aliens.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: He's not nearly as okay with killing as Wikus is.
Little CJ
Little CJ
Played By N/A
Christopher Johnson's young son.
- Badass Adorable: He brutally kills several gangsters to save Wikus. Not a big deal on its own, but he reacts with youthful enthusiasm, even though the deaths are pretty intense.
- Child Prodigy: Helps his father in his research and is shown to be very good with it. Plus, he's the one who activates the mothership and the Mini-Mecha.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He is shown to be very good with Prawn technology and is often seen tampering with and repairing it.
- Kid Sidekick: Functions as one to his father.
- No Name Given: No one actually refers to him by name, and it seems that he hasn't been given a human name yet like his father has.
Tania
Tania Smit van de Merwe
Played By Vanessa Haywood
Wikus' loyal and loving wife. She is also the daughter of Piet Smit.
- Daddy's Girl: Her father is Piet Smit, head of the SMU. Initially, she believes everything he tells her about Wikus. Towards the end, however, she comes round and realizes that her father was lying to her.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Piet early on declares that he did not promote Wikus because he was his son-in-law. When Piet has Wikus helplessly Strapped to an Operating Table, he coldly orders him to be cut up and his body dissected and studied without any anesthetic.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: While we don't see much of her, she seems to be a kind, compassionate person. Wikus compares her to an angel.
- Happily Married: To Wikus, which makes his destiny (and hers) even more heartbreaking.
- Morality Pet: Even when he was a complete jerk, Wilkus sincerely loved her.
- Spoiled Sweet: Despite having a Corrupt Corporate Executive for a father, she's one of the nicest characters in the movie.
Piet
Piet Smit
Played By Louis Minaar
The head of the South African MNU. He also happens to be Wikus' father-in-law.
- Amoral Afrikaner: He tries to have Wikus, his own son-in-law, vivisected for the sake of profit. He also turns Tania against her husband for a while (by falsely claiming that Wikus has had sex with a prawn).
- Bald of Evil: He's bald and one of the film's major villains.
- Big Bad: He's the most powerful of the human villains.
- Knight Templar Parent: To his daughter Tania, although his idea of protecting her is pretty extreme (and involves a lot of lying).
- Lack of Empathy: He has no moral qualms about having his son-in-law — who's begging for his life — vivisected without anesthetic.
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: Runs a squalid ghetto for Prawns which includes branding them with the MNU logo, hiring private military to keep them in line, employing "population control" to prevent them from increasing their population, and even has a secret laboratory for the sole purpose of doing horrible experiments on prawns.
- Offscreen Karma: It's implied that his company gets investigated for his unethical acts. His daughter is also implied to have turned against him for his lying.
- Private Military Contractors: He runs the company that employs them.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: He (and MNU as a whole) have a lot of power, and regularly ignore the law and basic rights of Prawns in order to profit off of them.
- Smart People Speak the Queen's English: He is an Afrikaner, like most of the cast, but consciously speaks with a British English accent. According to the
DVD Commentary, they wanted to show the class difference between Piet and Wikus. - Villain with Good Publicity: Though the positive PR may have been torn down by the end of the film.
Koobus
Colonel Koobus Venter
Played By David James
The commander of a mercenary unit, employed by Piet Smit.
- Amoral Afrikaner: Practically the poster boy for this trope. South African? Yep. Racist (well, Fantastic Racist in this case)? Very. Sociopathic Soldier in charge of a mercenary unit? Check and check.
- Asshole Victim: He suffers one of the most brutal deaths in the movie — and he definitely deserves it, too.
- Bald of Evil: An even clearer example than his boss.
- Blood Knight: His job is killing prawns, and he loves his job.
- The Dragon: He is this to Piet.
- Death by Racism: He is surrounded by the aliens he spent most of the film abusing, and torn limb from limb.
- Evil Gloating: Stops several times before killing prawns to taunt them. This ends up saving Wikus, who would have died if Koobus had just shot him instead of stopping to inform him that he was going to die.
- For the Evulz: This is pretty much his only reason for joining MNU, on top of being xenophobic towards the Prawns. He kills Christopher's friend in cold blood just to get a kick out of it.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Bursts into a violent fit of rage in his first scene when Wikus suggests he wear body armor and proceeds to yell at the cameraman for filming him.
- Hate Sink: The moment we see what he is like on screen, we know that we will be rooting for his demise.
- The Heavy: Although Piet Smit is technically the main antagonist of the movie, Koobus is the one who commands all the mercenary soldiers and takes part of the action.
- Jerkass: An overall unpleasant asshole.
- Kick the Dog: All the time. A good example would be this line when he has Christopher Johnson at gun point after beating him within an inch of his life.Koobus: I can't believe I get paid to do this! I love watching you prawns die.
- Large Ham: He has his moments, like when we first see him.LISTEN TO ME YOU FUCK! GET THAT FUCKING CAMERA OUT OF MY FACE!
- Off with His Head!: When he's attacked at the end, his screams are gruesomely cut short by a prawn ripping his head right off his shoulders..
- Private Military Contractors: His job, which he enjoys way too much.
- Psycho for Hire: He's only in it for the lulz of killing things.
- Sadist: He takes pleasure in killing prawns. He even outright states "I love watching you prawns die."
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: His Large Ham quote is only a sample.
- Sociopathic Soldier: Of the Psychopathic and Jingoistic varieties to a T.
Obesandjo
Obesandjo
Played By Eugene Khumbanyiwa
A paralyzed Nigerian gang leader who wants to gain the 'power' of the aliens by consuming them.
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: He speaks Swahili to Wikus, calling him a "mzungu" (meaning "white person") but Swahili isn't a Nigerian language. His name also appears to be a misspelling of the Nigerian name Obasanjo.
- Asshole Victim: A guy who exploits the prawns for his evil purposes, deserved to get his head exploded by Mini-Mecha.
- Ax-Crazy: Regularly has Prawns killed and eaten in the attempt to gain their power. Even tries doing this to a still part-human Wikus.
- Creepy Monotone: Almost never raises his voice, even in tense situations.
- Evil Cripple: He hasn't let being confined to a wheelchair stop him from running a gang of brutal arms dealers.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: Gets cylinder to the head while he was speaking.
- Oh, Crap!: When Wikus discovers he can use the Prawn weapons and kills one of the gang members.Ah, holy shit!
- Nerves of Steel: Even when Wikus has an alien gun to his face, Obesandjo doesn't flinch at all.
- Ruthless Foreign Gangsters: Runs a Nigerian criminal organization that exploits Prawns' addiction to nearly worthless cat food to gain their advanced technology and regularly kills them to eat them to try to gain their ability to use said technology.
- Scary Black Man: Being a paraplegic doesn't stop him from being frightening.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Whatever he thinks he's doing with the prawns...it really doesn't work that way. First off, they have no "power." Secondly, even if they did, science just doesn't work that way.
- Your Head Asplode: When the Mini-Mecha becomes operational, it fires a massive cylinder into his head and pops his head like a melon.
