1920s New York City-based characters of the Fantastic Beasts films.
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Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA)
General MACUSA Tropes
The wizard government of the United States of America, very much the American equivalent of the UK's Ministry of Magic.
- Badass Army: It has an Auror department, just like the British Ministry of Magic.
- Badass Longcoat: Roaring Twenties-era Aurors wear trenchcoats.
- Big Applesauce: It is located within the Woolworth Building in downtown New York City. The Great Sasquatch Rebellion of 1892 forced the MACUSA to move away from Washington D.C. Furthermore, the MACUSA has no contact with the No-Maj government unlike the UK's Ministry of Magic in London, which cooperates in harmony with the muggle government.
- Cleanup Crew: MACUSA Aurors have a magic powerful enough to rebuild whole city blocks after magical disasters.
- Fantastic Racism: Relations between No-Majs and wizards have not been as historically peaceful as they were in UK. In 1790, the fifteenth President of MACUSA, Emily Rappaport, instituted a law designed to create total segregation of the wizarding and No-Maj communities, the most severe out of all the wizarding world's governments, due to the presence of Anti Magical Factions since the Salem Witch Trials, and said law is still in effect by the 1920s. American wizards can't even befriend No-Majs. On the flip side, the President of MACUSA is an African-American woman.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: During The Roaring '20s, Aurors are very much like G-men.
- Good Is Not Nice: Death penalties can be pronounced at MACUSA, and there are dedicated execution rooms in the building.
- Lawful Stupid: MACUSA comes off as this on several occasions. Fortunately, they come around at the end.
- Tina brings Newt, a known criminal to the actual wizarding police and is treated as a nincompoop for doing her duty.
- While an Auror does come down to review the evidence against Newt, he quickly dismisses Tina thanks to the Satchel Switcheroo between his bag and Jacob's. When Tina later approaches MACUSA with evidence that magical beasts have escaped, rather than acknowledging that she was right in the first place, she's given a tongue-lashing for not telling them 24 hours ago despite the fact that she did try to tell them and was strongly dismissed and not believed during those 24 hours. And then they arrest her for doing the right thing.
- The Magocracy: A government made of wizards that rules over American wizards. Somehow, it is even less democratic than the UK Ministry of Magic, if not outright monarchical.
- Memory-Wiping Crew: Sometimes, Aurors have to wipe the memory of whole groups of No-Majs in order to preserve the Masquerade.
- The Phoenix: MACUSA's logo looks like a stylized version of the Great Seal of the United States, with a phoenix replacing the bald eagle.
Seraphina Picquery
President Seraphina Picquery
"Magical beasts are terrorizing No-Majs. When No-Majs are afraid, they attack. Contain this, or it'll mean war."
- Played by: Carmen EjogoVoiced by: Ana Jiménez (European Spanish), Yolanda Vidal, (Latin American Spanish), Annie Milon (French), Izabel Lira (Brazilian Portuguese)
The President of MACUSA.
- The Ace: She was one of the very few people to be accepted by the sorting statues of all four houses during her time at Ilvermorny (she chose Horned Serpent).
- Black Boss Lady: The actress is of Nigerian descent, and plays the equivalent of the President of the United States for America's wizarding world.
- The Cameo: Her role in Crimes of Grindelwald is quite small; in the opening minutes she oversees the transfer of custody of Grindelwald to Aurors from the International Confederation of Wizards, who are his escorts for his transport to Europe to be tried for his crimes. Once their Thestral-drawn coach leaves MACUSA, she has no further role in story.
- Cool Crown: She wears a quite elaborate golden headdress when on duty in the Congress room. See here◊.
- The High Queen: Technically a president, but her regalia, position, and influence are very much those of a queen.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Has no qualms about "apparently" killing Credence when he was the Obscurus, justifying it because he killed Henry Shaw Jr.
- Modest Royalty: Her elaborate headdress and robes are only for special occasions like international conferences. When on the job, she usually wears a simple head scarf and matching suit.
- Our Presidents Are Different: As president of the Magical Congress of the United States of America during The Roaring '20s, she is a Twofer Token Minority, being both African-American (a good 88 years before there was a black No-Maj president) and a woman. However, her status as a President Minority in the magical community only applies to her skin colour, as there have been female MACUSA presidents since the 18th century. She also overturned the laws regarding Prohibition within the magical community because being a witch or wizard was tough enough as it is. Overall, she was certainly quite a different character from her No-Maj contemporary.
- Properly Paranoid: In the second film, she's very wary of handing Grindelwald over to the International Confederation and believes he's too slippery to be transported back to Europe. Not only does he manage to escape custody using human transfiguration, but in the third film, he's cleared of all his crimes by the Supreme Mugwump of the I.C.W. and becomes a legally free man once again.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: She does her best to preserve the Masquerade in order to protect the No-Maj and magical worlds from causing trouble to each other. She's the first to apologize to Newt for dismissing his claims that an Obscurus was responsible for the chaos and not his escaped beasts, and that they owe him a debt of gratitude for capturing Grindelwald ... and then tells him to leave New York before anything else gets loose from his suitcase.
Percival Graves
Percival Graves
"I ask you, Madam President. I ask all of you... who does this law protect? Us, or them?"
- Played by: Colin FarrellVoiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (Japanese), Sergio Zamora (European Spanish), Raúl Anaya (Latin American Spanish), Boris Rehlinger (French), Fernando Lopes (Brazilian Portuguese)Appears in: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
An American Auror and Director of Magical Security at MACUSA. At first responsible for tracking down and arresting Newt Scamander after his suitcase is opened, Graves begins to take an interest in Mary Lou Barebone's adopted son, Credence.
- Ambiguous Situation: It is open for debate if "Percival Graves" was just a persona that Grindelwald invented for his scheme or if the former was an actual wizard that the latter murdered some time prior and assumed his guise.
- Big Bad: As Director of Magical Security, Graves pursues Scamander and co. for illegally releasing beasts into New York, and also manipulates Credence to find something for him in the Salem Society sub-plot.
- Call-Forward: He gives Credence a Deathly Hallows symbol-shaped pendant, something that doesn't have attention drawn to it in the film itself. The Hallows symbol is a major plot element in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, where it is revealed to be associated with the Peverell family, Gellert Grindelwald, and Albus Dumbledore.
- Evil Mentor: Graves introduces Credence to magic, which becomes a dark obsession for the boy, especially since his mother beats him for even the thought of wizardry. Not that Graves cares, since he's only using Credence to get intel about the dark magic haunting New York.
- False Friend: Again to Credence, as he heals him after Mary Lou beats him and offers comfort and encouragement to contrast how most others belittle or insult the boy just to keep him useful, loyal, and in-line.
- Impersonation-Exclusive Character: We don't know what he's actually like as a character, since it's eventually revealed that Grindelwald is masquerading as him.
- Inspector Javert: Graves comes to expect the mysterious attacks in New York are the results of one of Newt's beasts, so Graves makes Newt MACUSA's number one enemy and tries to capture him, dead or alive. He's using Newt as a scapegoat, since Graves knows an Obscurus did it and doesn't want anyone to interfere in his search for said Obscurus.
- Judge, Jury, and Executioner: He can sentence to the death penalty without even a proper trial. Rather chillingly, his assistants have clearly done this enough that they have an established procedure for carrying out executions, and even the condemned (Tina especially) don't bring up any legal objection.
- Kick the Dog: When he slaps Credence while Credence is begging for his help, it is completely unnecessary, and the perfunctory callousness with which he does it brings home to the audience just how little he cares about people he considers beneath his notice, no matter how good he is at manipulating others with apparent affection. Telling Credence he's a squib and that he has no use for him, after giving the boy false hope for the entire movie by telling him that he could teach him magic, also definitely counts.
- Lack of Empathy: Manipulates Credence by showing him much needed affection and telling him that he is going to give him a better life, but once he believes he doesn't need him anymore, he immediately admits that everything he was promising him throughout the movie was a lie and that he essentially believes that he's worthless. This comes back to bite him hard later.
- Manipulative Bastard: He manipulates Credence Barebone into secretly working for him by promising to make him a wizard.
- Mole in Charge: When he gave Credence a necklace which bears Deathly Hallows symbol, you'd think that Graves, the MACUSA Auror and Director of Magical Security, is secretly a follower of Grindelwald. Not to mention he also seems amused and offended when Newt said he's not one of Grindelwald's fanatics. Turns out that's not quite right: He's Grindelwald himself.
- One-Man Army: Graves is the most powerful American wizard shown, easily able to overpower Newt and Tina and later shows the ability to block dozens of spells at a time. Justified in that he is actually Grindelwald, the most powerful dark wizard before Voldemort. However, given that Grindelwald had to modulate his power to portray Graves' abilities accurately as part of the disguise without arousing suspicion, it is very plausible that the real Graves was a genuinely powerful wizard in his own right.
- Psycho Electro: Tries to viciously electrocute his opponent to death during the climax of the film using the New York railways as a conductor.
- Uncertain Doom: Given who is impersonating him, it’s hard to imagine the real Graves is still alive but it’s never been explicitly stated either way.
- Walking Spoiler: Graves's true identity is one of the biggest twists of the film: he's actually Gellert Grindelwald, the most powerful dark wizard alive.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: We never learn what happened to the real Graves, or if he is even still alive.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Gave a vicious rant to the MACUSA for destroying the Obscurus. Ironically, even though it was for his own purposes, he's more upset about Credence's death
than Tina and Newt who actually cared about him.
Bernadette
Bernadette
"Don't that look good? You wanna get in?"
- Played by: Miquel BrownVoiced by: Maïk Darah (French)Appears in: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
A MACUSA witch who works as an executioner.
- All There in the Script: She is not named in the film, she's instead credited as "Executioner #2". She is named in the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay, however.
- False Reassurance: She tells Tina "Don't that look good?" when she's hypnotied by her happy memories reflecting in the deadly liquid she's been sentenced to die into.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: She takes happy memories from her victims' mind and puts them in the pool of silvery acid that's meant to execute them, which calms them down as they descend to their death.
Abernathy
- See here.
New Salem Philanthropic Society
Mary Lou Barebone
Mary Lou Barebone
"There's strange things going on all over the city. People behind this are not like you and me. There's a hidden society, it goes back centuries."
- Played by: Samantha MortonVoiced by: Yolanda Quesada (European Spanish), Cynthia Alfonzo (Latin American Spanish), Claire Beaudoin (French), Priscila Amorim (Brazilian Portuguese)Appears in: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"Hear my words and heed my warning. And laugh if you dare. Witches live among us! We have to fight together for the sake of our children, for the sake of tomorrow!"
The leader of the New Salem Philanthropic Society, a No-Maj anti-witchcraft group, and the mother of various orphans, including Credence Barebone.
- Abusive Parents: It's an understatement to say her Disproportionate Retributions on Credence didn't help him to grow happy and confident one bit, and Tina mentions that he isn't the only one of her children she's been abusing. Her treatment of her orphans and anti-magical bias make the original Muggle Foster Parents, Vernon and Petunia Dursley, look almost tame by comparison. Even worse, it turned him into a powerful Obscurus and an attempt to beat Modesty acted as the final straw that got her killed.
- Ambiguous Situation: She’s referred to as “Mrs.”, even by Credence, but no husband is mentioned or present. She could be widowed but it’s never stated explicitly.
- Asshole Victim: She was an abusive mother towards her adopted children (especially Credence) and gets killed by Credence's Obscurus, leaving her body afterwards an unpleasant sight.
- Big Bad Wannabe: She desired to commit mass genocide of witches and wizards and abuses children of them under her care to brainwash them into hating things magical, in addition to generally trying to have children spread her message of murder, paranoia, and hate in exchange for basic things like food. While this does make her a dire threat and while she is promoted in advertisements as an important character — such as having her own character poster — she is nowhere near as dangerous as any of the magic based threats like Graves or the Obscurus she unwittingly created.
- Boomerang Bigot: Per Pottermore, Mary Lou is directly descended from Scourers - wizarding mercenaries, vigilantes and bounty hunters that formed in the United States in the 17th century that eventually became corrupt from greed and were outlawed after they began selling their own and even innocent No-Majs to the witch-hunting Puritans, whereupon surviving Scourers married into No-Maj families and integrated into non-magical society to avoid justice. While modern day Scourer descendants have lost most of their magical heritage, they retained knowledge of the existence of the magical world and a hatred for it.
- Burn the Witch!: Her goal and that of the New Salem Philanthropic Society in a nutshell. She even taught her children some songs about burning witches, as Modesty demonstrates.
- Cassandra Truth: As you can see by the quotes, she is aware of the existence of magic (or at least has surprisingly-accurate delusions) but the rest of the No-Majs generally brush her off as a crank.
- Death by Racism: She is killed by a magical being that she loathes and bears Fantastic Racism against, and created by how said Fantastic Racism was intentionally instilled into her children.
- Evil Matriarch: An abusive and bigoted adoptive mother who seeks to repress or otherwise eliminate magic wherever she will find it.
- Foil: The New Salemites as a whole are a foil to Voldemort's Death Eaters. Where the Death Eaters are dedicated to bringing about the dominance of pure-blooded wizards, the New Salemites are descendants of wizards who decided that magic was evil and decided to make a concerted effort to marry Muggles and eliminate magical ability from their bloodlines (in addition to exposing and eliminating magic users).
- The Fundamentalist: She's among the most anti-magic No-Majs in America, very much a 1920s version of Puritans in this universe.
- Gone Horribly Right: Nearly, though it happens after her death, her wish for other No-Majs to join her crusade against wizards and witches seemed to work at the climax, including having the newspaper editor Shaw, whose politician son was killed, to vow for justice against the magical beings for his son's death. However, she never thought her abused stepson Credence was the one who made it happen with his Obscurus. Fortunately, this was undone by MACUSA who repairs the damage Credence has done to New York and altered the muggles' memories.
- Hate Sink: Simply exists to be disliked by the audience, which is why no one really mourned for her death. Just look at the other negative tropes describing her.
- Karmic Death: She gets killed by the very thing she created trying to repress magic in her adoptive son.
- Meaningful Name: She and her society are thematically based on Puritans; her name seems to be taken from Praise-God Barebone, a prominent puritan.
- Muggle Foster Parents: She has no magical powers and raised her adopted son, who does have magical powers, however her intolerance towards magic despite this encouraged them to inhibit and repress them. This is why Graves approaches Credence to try and figure out which child she takes care of is the Obscurial as there are very few other ways one could have been created in New York.
- Muggles: She's a No-Maj, a terrifying one that hates wizards and witches alike.
- Mundanger: Much of the darkness in the film lies at the feet of an ordinary, abusive mother.
- My Beloved Smother: She's been obscenely abusive and controlling with Credence for most of his childhood and young man's life, and the results are not pretty to see.
- Near-Villain Victory: Though this happens posthumously for her, through her adopted son Credence's actions as an Obscurus, it manages to turn the No-Maj population against magical folk, including getting the newspaper editor to join in after his son was killed to get justice, at the climax. Fortunately, the MACUSA make sure to reverse this by altering the memories of the No-Majs and repairing the collateral damage in New York.
- New England Puritan: Is a descendant of the witch hunters during the Salem Witch Trials and is clearly a fundamentalist. Her children are given stereotypical Puritan names.
- Parental Substitute: She has been this for Modesty, Credence, and Chastity in addition to generally looking after and feeding many others. Sadly far from a good one.
- Shadow Archetype: Can be seen as one for Kendra Dumbledore. Both are the mother of three kids, one of whom is an obscurial. Kendra was a loving mother who put her life on hold to take care of Ariana after she was attacked by those Muggle boys while Mary-Lou continues to abuse her children and even caused said child to become an obscurial. Both ended up getting killed by their obscurial child. However, Kendra was killed on accident by Ariana but Credence kills her deliberately.
Credence Barebone
- See here.
Modesty Barebone
Modesty Barebone
"My momma, your momma, gonna catch a witch. My momma, your momma, flying on a switch. My momma, your momma, witches never cry. My momma, your momma, witches gonna die!"
- Played by: Faith Wood-BlagroveVoiced by: Anastasia Azaranka (European Spanish), Melissa Gutiérrez (Latin American Spanish), Juliette Gesteau (French), Isabella Koppel (Brazilian Portuguese)Appears in: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
The youngest adopted daughter of Mary Lou Barebone.
- Abusive Parents: Her adoptive mother is not a nice woman. Notable in that Credence didn't snap and kill their mother until after Modesty confessed to owning the wand Mary Lou caught him holding, and indicated Modesty would be the one getting beaten with his belt instead.
- Creepy Child: Seen reciting a rather graphic nursery rhyme about killing witches.
- Family Theme Naming: Mary Lou's adopted children are all named after strong actions or beliefs: Modesty, Credence, and Chastity.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: While it's proven she isn't the Obscurial, her having hidden a wand under her bed makes it ambiguous if she is a witch (and not repressing her magic is why she hasn't become one yet), or if it was a childish act of rebellion with a "toy" like she claims to Credence.
- Red Herring: Set up throughout the film as the troublemaking Obscurial. Turns out, the Obscurial is Credence.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Her fate after her adoptive mother's death is left ambiguous, unlike her sister Chastity who was said to have died as a result of Credence's attack on Mary Lou. Terrified of the accident, Modesty ran away and was going to hide in a run-down tenement the Bronx where she once lived with her nine siblings before being adopted. When Percival Graves found her and believed that she was the Obscurial, the real Obscurial revealed his Obscurus, and Graves suddenly realised that Modesty was not the real Obscurial. The Obscurus from Credence burst forth and flew away and Grindelwald followed him, leaving Modesty all alone at the Bronx. It's unknown if she's still there, or what happened with her thereafter.
Chastity Barebone
Chastity Barebone
- Played by: Jenn MurrayAppears in: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Mary Lou Barebone's second eldest adopted child.
- Daddy's Little Villain: Of the three Barebone kids, she's the most sincere and enthusiastic about her mother's crusade.
- Killed Offscreen: According to the screenplay, she was killed when Credence's Obscurus was let loose inside the church. This is the same in the film when Grindelwald walks through the ruined church and Chastity is lying dead on the floor.
Other
Gnarlak
Gnarlak
"So. You're the guy with the case full of monsters, huh?"
- Played by: Ron PerlmanVoiced by: José Escobosa (European Spanish), Rubén Moya (Latin American Spanish), Pascal Casanova (French), Jorge Vansconcellos (Brazilian Portuguese)Appears in: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
The unsavory Goblin owner/bartender of The Blind Pig, a wizarding speakeasy in Harlem.
- The Bartender: Gnarlak works at The Blind Pig behind the bar, as well as being its owner.
- Black Market: He makes his wealth trading anything magical, even if MACUSA made it illegal.
- Cigar Chomper: He is first seen with an extinguished cigar in his mouth.
- Creepy Long Fingers: He's portrayed as an unsavory character, and like most goblins he has very long fingers; he ups the ick factor by bending them backwards.
- Friend in the Black Market: Tina knows Gnarlak has the kind of intel Scamander needs as the Goblin is a very well-informed black market opportunist, and leads Scamander to the Blind Pig. The "friend" part however is... not in play at all.
- Ink-Suit Actor: He's entirely computer generated, but he pretty much looks exactly like Ron Perlman would if he were a goblin.
- Knowledge Broker: He's very well informed about magical activities in New York City.
- Large and in Charge: An unusual case, as he's shorter than the human cast. In context, he's a goblin and nearly twice the height of any goblin yet seen in a Potterverse film (as up to this point, Little People have played the goblin/halfbreed characters).
- Ninja Zombie Pirate Robot: He is a gangster bartender Goblin.
- Our Goblins Are Different: Like most Goblins depicted in the Wizarding World franchise, his goal in life is to make money. Only this time, it's through illegal means, which includes illegal trade of magical creatures.
- The Rat: Sells out Tina, Newt, Queenie and Jacob to MACUSA with an Evil Laugh to show for it.
- Serkis Folk: Gnarlak is completely CGI. This is unusual for Ron Perlman, whose live-action work is usually associated with prosthetic makeup.
- Sinister Schnoz: Goes along with being a Goblin, but this guy is definitely not someone to trust.
- Space Jews: He is a big-nosed, cheating businessman with skullcap-like hair who dresses and moves like a Jewish caricature.
- You Remind Me of X: After punching him, Jacob notes that Gnarlak reminds him of his foreman.
Langdon Shaw
Langdon Shaw
- Played by: Ronan RafteryVoiced by: Brice Ournac (French); Edson Matus (Latin American Spanish); Yan Gesteira (Brazilian Portuguese)Appears in: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
An American No-Maj who believes in witches. He is the brother of Henry Shaw, Jr. and the son of Henry Shaw, Sr.
- Agent Mulder: He's the only No-Maj outside of the New Salemites who believes witches/wizards exist.
- Muggles: He's got no magical powers.
- The Un-Favourite: His father clearly prefers his brother over him.
Henry Shaw, Jr.
Senator Henry Shaw
- Played by: Josh CowderyVoiced by: Jos Gómez (European Spanish); José Luis Orozco (Latin American Spanish); Mckeidi Lisita (Brazilian Portuguese)"Shaw: America's Future"Appears in: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
An American No-Maj politician and New York Senator.
- Asshole Victim: After insulting Credence in front of Modesty, he gets killed by the Obscurus.
- Entitled Bastard: Henry, Jr. has it made: his father is wealthy and influential, and his money and connections have already propelled Jr. into the U.S. Senate, and made him a hopeful for the Presidency in a few more years. He can get away with calling one weird family in his father's office "freaks", because what does it matter to him that they won't be voting for him? A lot, as it turns out.
- Hate Sink: While not an evil character by any means his Jerkassary towards Credence is enough to not make you sorry for him when the latter kills him.
- Jerkass: When he took one of the New Salemites' pamphlets and gave it to Credence, he crushed it and threw it to the boy, calling him a freak. He would later receive his punishment when the Obscurus mercilessly crashed through his stump speech.
- Muggles: He's got no magical powers.
- No Party Given: His political affiliation is never mentioned in this film, though if his father is meant to be similar to William Randolph Hearst, he could have been a Democrat.note
Henry Shaw, Sr.
Henry Shaw, Sr.
- Played by: Jon VoightVoiced by: Camilo García (European Spanish); Dafnis Fernández (Latin American Spanish); Frédéric Cerdal (French); Élcio Romar (Brazilian Portuguese)Appears in: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
An American No-Maj, newspaper baron and father of Senator Henry Shaw.
- Horrible Judge of Character: He values his older son Henry Jr., whom what we have seen so far is a Jerkass, which makes us wonder what Shaw sees in him.
- Muggles: He's got no magical powers.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: As a politically-active newspaper baron, he resembles the real-life William Randolph Hearst.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Outlives his murdered son and can be seen demanding justice.
- Parental Favouritism: Seems to be preferential toward his older son, Henry Jr., and dismissive of the younger.
