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The Players
The people who become unwittingly trapped inside the Jumanji video game.
Spencer Gilpin
Spencer Gilpin
Played By: Alex Wolff, Dwayne Johnson (Bravestone), Awkwafina (Ming)
Appearances: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Jumanji: The Next Level
A socially awkward nerd who got into detention after teachers learned he was doing Fridge's homework. His avatar is Dr. Smolder Bravestone in Welcome To The Jungle and Ming Fleetfoot in The Next Level before he becomes Smolder again.
- Ambiguously Jewish: On at least two occasions, Spencer breaks out in Yiddish.
- Apologetic Attacker: He warns a mook that he can "punch really, really hard". It is not a Badass Boast but worried in tone.
- Author Catchphrase: In-Universe, he apparently has a habit of using a "spread like wildfire" metaphor in his papers, including the ones he writes for Fridge. This is why they are caught and thrown in detention.
- Badass Biker: The film climax sees him capturing a flamethrower-bike from Van Pelt's mercenaries and using it to save Bethany and keep the jaguars away.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: He used the same wildfire metaphor in all of his essays, even the ones Fridge made him do for him, which is how their teacher found out they were cheating and what landed them in detention.
- Calling Your Attacks: He calls out his moves while fighting Van Pelt's henchmen at the bazaar, likely a nod to his habit of doing this while playing Street Fighter.
- Character Tic: Rubbing his now-bald head in Welcome to the Jungle.
- Cowardly Lion: Despite being the strongest and fastest of the player characters in Welcome to the Jungle, Spencer is still easily frightened and his first reaction to danger is to usually start running. His entire Character Development is learning to be braver than he originally was, becoming more aware and appreciative of the "one life" everyone in Real Life has, while in the sequel, he learns to appreciate what he has in his current life and not in the Escapist Fantasy of Jumanji.
- Cross Player: Lands in the body of jewel thief Ming in his second go-around. Finds it less than ideal, purely on the basis that playing as Ming isn't the same kind of power trip he was used to as Bravestone, although a "Freaky Friday" Flip with his grandfather corrects that.
- Decoy Protagonist: In The Next Level. While in the beginning of the film it seemed like Spencer was the main character, once his Grandpa Eddie stepped in the focus of the film shifted to the latter.
- Endearingly Dorky: His enthusiastic "I'M A NERD!" when Martha tells him she likes nerds totally sells it.
- Genre Savvy: Being a gamer, he seems familiar with most video game tropes, such as being the first to notice that Nigel is just an NPC and can't really respond to them due to having programmed responses and nothing more. Most of the time at least.
- Gory Discretion Shot: His death by a jaguar is only seen briefly, from afar, and without a drop of blood.
- Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: Spencer has longish hair as a teenager. As Bravestone, he is completely bald (and has trouble adjusting to it).
- Insecure Love Interest: Part of the reason Spencer returns to Jumanji was that he was doubting his relationship with Martha as she seemed to have her college life more together than he did. He gets better and is back with Martha again.
- It's Personal: His instant thought about the final level is that he should do it alone. A death from squirrel scare later, he decides it should be done through teamwork.
- Nerdy Inhaler: The nerdy Spencer uses an inhaler at the beginning of The Next Level while texting his friends his plans to visit his grandfather for the holidays.
- Nerves of Steel: Averted. Despite one of the Bravestone avatar's abilities being 'Fearless', Spencer's nerdy inner self still comes through on most occasions. He loses one of his lives during the finale because he gets startled by a squirrel and falls out of the trees into a pack of jaguars, and Fridge even tells it's really him at the start of the game because he becomes incredibly alarmed simply by an overpassing bird.
- Nom de Mom: As revealed in The Next Level, Gilpin is his maternal grandfather's surname and thus his mother's maiden name, all but confirming that Spencer's father isn't around for whatever reason.
- Twinkle in the Sky. Oddly, it's not listed as one of his strengths.
- Unskilled, but Strong: He's never had any combat training, and his character fights using Good Old Fisticuffs. He's also a massive Lightning Bruiser that can punch through stone.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Spencer is terrified of squirrels.
- Wrestler in All of Us: As Bravestone, he performs the Rock Bottom on a Mook.
Anthony "Fridge" Johnson
Anthony "Fridge" Johnson
Played By: Ser'Darius Blain, Kevin Hart (Mouse), Jack Black (Shelly), Karen Gillan (Ruby)
Appearances: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Jumanji: The Next Level
A football Jerk Jock and Spencer's former friend, who got into detention after being caught cheating on his homework. His avatar is Mouse Finbar in Welcome To The Jungle and Professor Shelly Oberon in The Next Level before he becomes Mouse again. He also briefly controls Ruby Roundhouse in the second film.
- Absurd Phobia: Losing a life to cake in Welcome to the Jungle causes him to develop a phobia of cake. It's to the point that in The Next Level, he freaks out upon being offered cake at Jumanji and throws the cake away, and even in the real world, he's too scared of eating cake.
- Accidental Misnaming: Fridge picks Mouse because he misread the character's nickname as "Moose."Fridge: "Moose Finbar"... sounds like a badass.
- Berserk Button: Being called a dumbass. It angers him enough to push Spencer/Bravestone off a cliff, costing him a life.
- The Big Guy: In his real-life self, he is the tallest of the kids due to being a football player. That is why he feels ticked off that his video game avatar is shorter.
- Black Is Bigger in Bed: Much to his relief, Fridge claims that he managed to retain his...you-know-what size despite his avatar being two feet shorter than him.
- Book Dumb: He's struggling academically, to the point he just has Spencer do his papers for him at first. However, much like many real-life examples, he's not stupid and actually has good strategic thinking skills.
- Butt-Monkey: Easily the biggest one of the group by far. Things never seem to go his way in the game, starting with the fact that he gets hurt an awful lot every time he plays. Even worse, he consistently ends up in avatars with few strengths and a great many weaknesses, from Mouse Finbar to Shelly Oberon. In the second film, he somehow ends up worse off once he becomes Shelly, due to his avatar having gained an additional three weaknesses. And of course, there's that one issue with his new avatar he's particularly bothered by:Fridge: I came back and things actually got worse! At least last time I was still black!
- Character Development:
- Like all the main characters, he goes through this. In Fridge's case, it's both learning to rely on and appreciate others, and learning how to operate with brains, not brawn (the "one thing he was good at").
- In the sequel, he learns to appreciate the skills his Non-Action Guy avatar, Shelley Oberon, has. It's also noteworthy that he hated how Mouse Finbar was the exact physical antithesis to himself in the first film, but later demonstrated ecstatic relief to be back in Finbar's body.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Fridge is good at football and considers it the 'only thing he's actually good at' to the point that when he's struggling in a class he feels he needs to get someone else to do his homework.
- His avatars in Jumanji arguably fall victim to the other side of this, with Mouse and Shelley being intellectually capable at the cost of being virtually useless physically.
- Deadpan Snarker: He and Martha both share this role, with Fridge in particular, snarking at everything wrong with the situation.
- Dumbass Has a Point: By the time of the second movie, Fridge is no longer willfully stupid, but he is the one who makes it clear that the current controller/avatar dynamic doesn't work as the group prepare to assault Jurgan's fortress.
- Jerk Jock: He's an indifferent dick in real life, forcing Spencer to do homework for him because he's the closest thing the poor nerd has to a friend. In the game, he dismisses him as an "annoying kid that I’ve been trying to shake since the seventh grade" — then shoves him off a cliff. His entire story arc is about not being this trope anymore.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He is a Jerk Jock who forces Spencer to do his homework, looks down on him, and is overall rather arrogant — his response to Spencer calling him a "dumbass" is to literally shove him off a cliff. However, he's still fundamentally a good person and a good friend to Spencer nonetheless, and in Jumanji he pulls through for the others numerous times, rouses Spencer by telling him You Are Better Than You Think You Are, and he saves the others in a Big Damn Heroes moment by riding in on an elephant.
- Large Ham: As Shelly in The Next Level, courtesy of Jack Black. His scene as Ruby too, as Fridge gets overwhelmed with joy in being back in an athletic body for a change.
- Laser-Guided Karma: He teases Spencer about having allergies and kills one of his former friend's lives by shoving him off of a cliff. He loses two of his lives due to eating cake being one of Mouse's weaknesses, somewhat similar to having food allergies, and to Spencer forcing a Heroic Sacrifice upon him by tossing him out of a helicopter and to the mercy of some nearby rhinos.
- Regarding the latter, the reason this even happens is because Fridge lost the gem and the rhinos were guarding it forcing Spencer to use him as a distraction to get it back.
- Man, I Feel Like a Woman: He briefly switches avatars with Martha by accident in the second film. Martha warns him to not grope Ruby Roundhouse's boobs, but it's too late because that was the first thing he did after the switch.
- Never My Fault: During the first movie, Fridge blames Spencer for the group getting sucked into the video and for him failing his homework, which got him kicked off the team. He's ignoring the fact that he was the one who found the gaming system and that had he done his own homework, he possibly wouldn't have gotten kicked off the football team in the first place. Instead, he pushes all the blame for his troubles onto Spencer. Luckily, he grows out of this.
- Only Sane Man: At least about Jumanji itself. He's consistently adamant about just getting home and never touching the game again. In the game, he's just as prone to the others to getting caught up in antics or achievements—he's still a teenager after all.
- Shipper on Deck: A downplayed and frequently exasperated example towards Spencer and Martha. Fridge can be seen silently cringing when Spencer awkwardly tries to talk to Martha in the detention room, and tells the two of them off later in the game for "having a moment" when they currently have other things to worry about.
- The Strategist:
- Being a football player means he knows how to work with a team and improvise strategies for getting past "defenders", which he puts to good use in the final confrontation of the first game.
- In the second game, he points out how some players are just not good matches for their avatar based on the role the avatar is supposed to serve—Milo is too slow-talking as Finbar and thus doesn't pass on critical information in time, Eddie is too reckless as Bravestone and thus drags the group into unnecessary danger, etc.
- This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: Utters this line as he enters the scene, sitting astride an elephant.Fridge: ZOOLOGY, BITCH!
- Uncle Tomfoolery: His type of comedy as the Plucky Comic Relief. Before dying by the cake, he asks if he's still black and he is relieved that he kept his "size" when transported into Jumanji.
- We Used to Be Friends: Fridge used to be childhood friends with Spencer, but his growing focus on football put a big gap between the two. The both of them reconcile by the end of the movie and become friends once more.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: After getting stuck as both non-physical characters, he’s thrilled to be switched into Ruby, not even caring at all that he’s playing as a woman. Then his insisting on showing off his new moves quickly gets him put back into Shelley.
Bethany Walker
Bethany Walker
Played By: Madison Iseman, Jack Black (Shelly)
Appearances: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Jumanji: The Next Level
A vain and arrogant girl who got in detention because she was caught using her phone on a quiz. Her avatar is Professor Shelly Oberon in Welcome to the Jungle and Cyclone in The Next Level before she becomes Shelly again.
- Animorphism: In the second film, she ends up in the avatar of a new playable character named Cyclone, which is a black horse.
- Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: Bethany wears a midriff-baring shirt, reflecting her beauty influencer personality, in contrast to Martha, the other girl of the group who is nerdy and Book Smart. Her final scene averts this — Bethany wears a more conservative, outdoorsy outfit, showing how the game has taught her to become less appearance-obsessed.
- Break the Haughty: A self-absorbed Dumb Blonde gets stuck in the body of a fat middle-aged man. She gets better.
- Book Dumb: To an extent. While she may have good people judgment skills and finished her quiz early (but got detention for using a phone while in class) in the film, she is somewhat confused about the proper terminology and definition for paleontology and cartography, which the latter's profession is improvised as "map doctor" when she forgot.
- Butt-Monkey: Bethany gets the short end of the stick when it comes to the avatars she ends up as. In the first film, she became a fat middle-aged man and in the second film, she turns into a horse. To her credit, she warms up to the former and takes the latter rather in stride.
- Character Development: the events of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle turned her from a vapid popular kid into someone quite outdoorsy and thirsting for travel.
- Cross Player: A female character playing a male avatar. Twice; Shelly Oberon is played by Jack Black and Cyclone is a stallion.
- Ditzy Genius: Downplayed. She's not a genius, but she is able to deduct and improvise on the fly and has a good aptitude for schoolwork.
- Dumb Blonde: She's a pretty blonde teenager who is quite shallow and Book Dumb. She has a few Hidden Depths though.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: She gets a lot of flak for her It's All About Me attitude. The only reason she isn't labeled as an Alpha Bitch is that she doesn't seem that popular in the first place. Everyone eventually warms up to her, though.
- Hidden Depths:
- While spacey and shallow, Bethany is quite a bit smarter than she appears—in Jumanji, she has a talent for remembering things, like needing to shout "JUMANJI!" at the end, and figures out what "the missing piece" means before everyone else. Even before she gets sucked into the game, her smarts are hinted at by how she finishes a quiz before everyone else.
- She's also good at listening to others and giving advice, as Martha and Alex both comment on.
- She also gave up her last extra life to Alex without a moment of hesitation, showing that despite her It's All About Me tendencies, she is perfectly willing to put her life at risk to save another.
- It's All About Me: Pretty self-centered until Character Development, to the point that when her teacher tells her that she shouldn't use her phone during a quiz because other people are still taking it, she just gives a quizzical look.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Martha is irritated by Bethany's dramatics at first, especially when it comes to being separated from her precious phone, but Bethany fires back that she was already in a bad mood from being dumped, and now she's been trapped in a killer video game in a man's body, without her phone, which is implied to be a bit of a Security Blanket for her. By all accounts, she has the right to freak out.
- When they first arrive in Jumanji she freaks out when she realizes she doesn't have her cellphone anymore. The others call her out, assuming she just wants to check social media, but Bethany replies that she wants it to try and call for help.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While she complains a lot about her predicament, she does do her best to help out the others, especially Martha in terms of boosting her confidence in her body and flirting skills. Being stuck in the body of a middle-aged, obese man (and being separated from her phone) does wonders for bringing out her better side.
- Large Ham: Jack Black is already one of the largest hams working in the industry. Now imagine him acting like a stereotypical teenage girl.
- Likes Older Men: It is all but explicitly stated that Bethany has a crush on Alex after they met in Jumanji, even after they meet in the real world when he's now a father of two.
- Man, I Feel Like a Woman: Gender inverted, as, while there is little explicit sexual subtext to it, Bethany is fascinated by the experience of having a penis due to inhabiting a male avatar and even talks to it once or twice.
- Ms. Fanservice: Downplayed, given that she's still in high school, but she's clearly attractive, to the point that she tries to get out of being in detention due to her good looks. It helps that her outfit shows her midriff.
- Nice Girl: Invoked and discussed, while also who she really is. It's less that Bethany is a jerk on her own, and more that everyone else (and especially Martha) sees her as an archetypical Alpha Bitch, much to Bethany's confusion and against her actual personality. She might be ignorant and self-centered, but she's never actively mean to anyone.
- Phoneaholic Teenager: Of the Instagram variety. She's legitimately amazed at how sociable and considerate she becomes without her phone.
- The Pollyanna: She takes everything in remarkable stride. While she is at first upset to be stuck in a man's body, she starts looking for the upsides to it and keeps a positive mind overall.
- Proud Beauty: To the point where "You can hook up with anyone you want" is a Survival Mantra for her. She once wore a bikini to school and posts a ton of pictures without a hint of self-consciousness. Her response to being stuck in Shelly's body is a Big "NO!".
- Security Blanket: She's a Phoneaholic Teenager, and it's such a constant presence in her life and day-to-day activities that she genuinely panics when she's without it, at least until she adjusts.
- Took a Level in Kindness: The first movie sees her shed her It's All About Me attitude to become a genuine Nice Girl. In the sequel, she's much sweeter to everyone, and immediately agrees to return to Jumanji with Martha to save Spencer.
- Walking Swimsuit Scene: Apparently she once went to school just wearing a bikini and got sent to detention because of this.
- What You Are in the Dark: When the rest of the group are trapped back in Jumanji, where Bethany could have just ignored everything and left to keep herself safe, she instead sought out Alex—the only other person she knew of with experience in Jumanji—to ask for his help.
Martha Kaply
Martha Kaply
Played By: Morgan Turner, Karen Gillan (Ruby), Jack Black (Shelly)
Appearances: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Jumanji: The Next Level
A shy girl who got in detention for speaking out against her gym teacher and refusing to participate in class. Her avatar is Ruby Roundhouse in both Welcome to the Jungle and The Next Level. She also briefly controls Shelly Oberon in the second film.
- Character Development: She becomes a lot more confident in herself, as well as losing her judgmental and reclusive attitude.
- Closest Thing We Got: In Next Level Martha basically has to become the group's leader as Spencer is initially lost (and resurfaces in a relatively useless avatar), Fridge is too focused on trying to overcome Shelly's limits and Eddie and Milo don't really understand the situation.
- Deadpan Snarker: Shares this role with Fridge.
- Heroic Suicide: A very interesting variation. As Ruby, she deliberately invokes her 'venom' weakness in the climax by provoking a venomous snake to bite her. This causes her to lose her second life but also invokes the game's respawning mechanic allowing her to get the Jaguar's Eye to Spence/Bravestone and win the game.
- Holier Than Thou: Has faint shades of this, regarding how she pre-emptively judges her gym teacher and Bethany for being sporty and self-centered, respectively. Bethany calls her on this and goes on to deduce Martha does it because she's afraid other people won't like her, so she decides not to like them first. Martha admits she's right, and after that grows out of it.
- Innocently Insensitive: What got her tossed in detention was her passionate speech about how she wanted to do more than her life than end up as a gym teacher. Martha's expression and apology make it clear she didn't mean it as an insult and just forgot who she was talking to. She still gets in trouble.
- Leitmotif: Big Mountain's cover of Peter Frampton's "Baby I Love Your Way".
- Nerds Are Sexy: Martha has a mad crush on Spencer for his nerdiness.
- Official Couple: With Spencer. They stop for a while in Next Level because of Spencer's insecurity before they got back together again.
- Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: "You guys like to dance?"
- Redheads Are Uncool: Martha has red hair and is socially awkward.
- Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Martha clearly expresses her distaste for Ruby's outfit.
- Socially Awkward Hero: She's quiet, judgmental, and, by her own admittance, not good at talking to people. Her speech to the gym teacher about what she thinks school is about is clearly impassioned, but also inadvertently insulting. By the sequel, she appears to have overcome this, having an active Instagram account and a wider circle of friends.
- Stepford Snarker: Martha's snarky attitude is partially a defense mechanism for her social awkwardness and loner tendencies, something that Bethany points out.
Alex Vreeke
Alex Vreeke
Played By: Mason Guccione (teen), Colin Hanks (adult), Nick Jonas (Seaplane)
Appearances: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Jumanji: The Next Level
A teenager who got stuck in the game in The '90s. His avatar is Seaplane McDonough in both Welcome to the Jungle and The Next Level.
- Celebrity Crush: On Cindy Crawford. He'd sure like to get jiggy with her.
- Expy Coexistence: Of Alan Parrish, the protagonist of the original Jumanji film, being a player who has been trapped in Jumanji for years. He even lives in the hideout Alan built during his imprisonment.
- Homeless Hero: The closest thing he has for a home while he is trapped in Jumanji is Alan Parrish's old treehouse. Other than that, he's pretty much living in the jungle by himself.
- I Owe You My Life: To Bethany, when she saves his life by giving him one of hers. From that point on he becomes quite protective of her, asking Van Pelt to take him instead when she's held hostage and immediately leaping to her defense. He even names his daughter after her.
- "Near and Dear" Baby Naming: Alex winds up naming his daughter after Bethany, who sacrificed one of her lives in Jumanji so that Alex could make it home.
- Older and Wiser: In the sequel, having lived his life for twenty years in the fixed timeline, he is much more levelheaded and calm on his return to Jumanji, doing his part to keep the core team steady and encouraging them (being a father helping him in that part), being the only mature adult in the group who actually understands what is going on. He has also traded out his Totally Radical 90s slang for Dad jokes.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: He has more than a few vibes of this, talking about how just the thought of the transportation shed freaks him out, acting jittery and muttering "I hate this place" once inside, and blatantly backpedaling away from the thought of piloting.
- Sixth Ranger: Joins the group later in the story. Becomes the 11th-Hour Ranger in the sequel, when Bethany turns to him for help in rescuing the rest of her team when they get sucked into Jumanji again without her. Despite having his reservations, he still does it anyway.
- Totally Radical: He still speaks in 90s slang. This is Played for Drama when this makes the rest of the gang realize that he's the Alex that went missing in the 90s and that he's been stuck in the game for nearly 20 years while he thinks it has only been a few months.
- What You Are in the Dark: In the sequel, Alex has every reason to not go back to the game — not only was he stuck there for 20 years, he then spent the next 22 living a regular life, having a wife and two kids. When Bethany goes for his help, she doesn't even have to convince him in any way, as Alex goes straight to helping.
- When he loses two of his lives in a very quick succession, he takes it in strides, rather than being panicked and traumatized as he did upon his first contact with Jumanji.
Eddie Gilpin
Eddie Gilpin
Played By: Danny DeVito, Dwayne Johnson (Smolder), Awkwafina (Ming)
Appearances: Jumanji: The Next Level
Spencer's cantankerous grandfather. His avatar is Dr. Smolder Bravestone and later Ming Fleetfoot in The Next Level.
- Character Development: Was initially a Grumpy Old Man angered by the loss of his highly successful business and his youth, grumpily advising Spencer to enjoy his youth as much as he can since "growing up sucks." After playing Jumanji, he comes to realize through Milo's decision to stay in the game that the fact that he managed to get old at all is in itself a miracle and learns to appreciate the long life he's led.
- Cross Player: Ends up in the body of the female Ming after switching avatars with Spencer.
- Dirty Old Man: Played for Laughs when he-as-Bravestone asks Bravestone's ex-girlfriend to repeat explaining things so she got to kiss him again.
- Drunk with Power: Eddie quickly becomes this upon realizing he has Bravestone's strength. To the point where he beats up an entire army.
- Grumpy Old Man: Unlike Milo, Eddie isn't content with his aging life, repeatedly saying that growing old sucks. Until he Took a Level in Cheerfulness and Kindness after finishing the game.
- Like Father, Like Son: Well, Like Grandfather, Like Grandson. He ends up in the same avatars as Spencer.
- Never My Fault: He never truly takes responsibility for some of his more reckless actions. His only response to everyone giving him dirty looks for getting them all killed by Switchblade is a Defensive "What?".
- Papa Wolf: When Spencer (as Ming) almost lost another... or rather, his last life to a mandril, Eddie makes good use of Bravestone's strength and heroically saves his grandson.
- Parental Substitute: He seems to be Spencer's only father figure.
- Race Lift: He's a white, elderly man who ends up in the bodies of Samoan and African-American descended Dwayne Johnson and Asian Awkwafina.
- Took a Level in Badass: After spending most of the game being The Load and Lethally Stupid, Eddie picks up his shit together when the group is surrounded by a horde of mandrils on the Rope Bridge and he manages to heroically save Spencer and Milo on two different occasions.
- Unskilled, but Strong: As Bravestone, he's ungodly strong. On the other hand, he's an old man with little grasp on video games or anything in general.
Milo Walker
Milo Walker
Played By: Danny Glover, Kevin Hart (Mouse)
Appearances: Jumanji: The Next Level
Eddie's estranged friend. His avatar is Mouse Finbar and later Cyclone in The Next Level.
- Animorphism: He switches avatars with Bethany, turning him into a horse. At the end of the movie, he chooses to stay like that due to dying of an unspecified illness in the real world.
- Comically Missing the Point: His difficulty in understanding that Jumanji is the name of the game and not a person is a Running Gag.
- Convenient Terminal Illness: He's got a terminal illness, which is why he chooses to stay in Jumanji.
- Cool Old Guy: Milo is very kind and friendly.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: How he rationalized retiring and selling his and Eddie's diner, understanding that he was getting too old for the business and was better off living the remainder of his life to the fullest. Hence why it basically took being diagnosed with a terminal illness to drive him to try and make amends with Eddie.
- I Choose to Stay: He decides to stay in Jumanji at the end of the film.
- Rambling Old Man Monologue: Tends to do this a lot, complete with long pauses in between his sentences, which is really not helpful in a video game when you have to act quickly and on your feet. This is why he's much better suited for the non-verbal avatar Cyclone.Milo: Did I kill Eddie... by talking too slow... just like he always said I would?!
The Jumanji Video Game
Game Avatars
The avatars that those playing the Jumanji video game are able to choose from.
Dr. Xander "Smolder" Bravestone
Dr. Xander "Smolder" Bravestone
Played By: Dwayne Johnson, Zachary Tzegaegbe (young)
Appearances: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Jumanji: The Next Level
Archaeologist — International Explorer. The main avatar in the game. His Skills are: Fearless, Climbing, Speed, Boomerang, and Smoldering Intensity. In Welcome to the Jungle, he has no Weaknesses, but The Next Level gives him a Weakness: Switchblade.
- The Ace: Being the strongest, fastest, and lacking any weaknesses whatsoever, this Avatar is undoubtedly the best in the game.
- Adventure Archaeologist: His whole thing, Bravestone is known the world over for his famous adventures.
- Arch-Enemy: In the context of the game, several characters have enmity with him or vice-versa. The first movie gives us his Evil Former Friend and rival archaeologist Russel Van Pelt. The second movie introduced Jurgen the Brutal, The Conqueror who killed Bravestone's parents when he was a child. And Switchblade, the mob boss who married Bravestone's ex-girlfriend and hates him because he knows his wife still has feelings for him. Switchblade is even characterized as his Weakness, meaning that Bravestone will lose any confrontation he has with the mob boss.
- Glass Cannon: While he's the strongest player avatar among the selection, he can still be defeated by dangerous foes in one hit, much like other characters.
- The Hero: Smolder clearly is supposed to be the Jumanji's main protagonist, evidenced by all his superior stats compared to his companions, having a past with the Big Bad and the NPCs addressing him first and foremost.
- Heroic Build: He has the tall, muscular physique of the Rock, befitting his role as The Hero.
- It's Personal: Van Pelt stares at him like he has known him for years, which is consistent with Nigel's introduction. Switchblade also hates him for trying to take his wife away from him.
- Large Ham: One of his abilities is "Smoldering Intensity," aka striking a pose and very dramatically turning everything he says into a one-liner on a whim.
- Lightning Bruiser: He is stronger AND faster than his teammates and demonstrates quick reflexes during his fight at the bazaar.
- Mr. Fanservice: Played for Laughs. He's a good-looking, extremely muscular man, whose "Smoldering Intensity" ability makes women swoon for him.
- Nerf: In The Next Level, Bravestone gains a single weakness in the form of Switchblade, a Mob Boss who is the current lover of Bravestone's ex. Unfortunately, Eddie becomes stubbornly overconfident in Bravestone's strength, which gives Switchblade an opening to successfully kill the entire group with a single missile.
- Super-Reflexes: In the bazaar fight, he is able to catch a knife in mid-air moments before it could hit Fridge.
- Super-Speed: Best shown during the second level, where he sees Van Pelt's henchmen approaching and yells at the group to run, only to turn around and see they've already got a big head start. He catches up to and overtakes the lot of them with ease.
- Super-Strength: During the bazaar fight, he punches and throws a couple of henchmen into a wall. In the sequel, he takes out 45 opponents without taking a scratch and sends a huge ostrich flying with one hit. Albeit his strength doesn't equal durability, as if something can harm him then it typically can also one-shot him (as he also gets killed with one peck from an ostrich).
- True Companions: In Jumanji's backstory, Dr. Bravestone saved Mouse Finbar from a warlord in the Peruvian jungle, and the two have been inseparable ever since.
- You Killed My Father: According to the game's backstory, Jurgen the Brutal killed Dr. Bravestone's parents when Bravestone was just a little boy.
Franklin "Mouse" Finbar
Franklin "Mouse" Finbar
Played By: Kevin Hart
Appearances: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Jumanji: The Next Level
Expert in Carrying Weapons and Zoology. Bravestone's sidekick. Has two Skills (Zoology and Weapons Valet) and three Weaknesses (Cake, Speed, Strength). The Next Level gives him a third Skill, Linguistics, but leaves him with all three weaknesses.
- Alliterative Name: Franklin Finbar. Though his nickname, "Mouse," subverts it.
- Badass Bookworm: He has an encyclopedic knowledge of all animals, and allows him to perform feats like defanging a Black Mamba, one of the most dangerous animals alive.
- Bag of Holding: To Deus ex Machina levels. His 'Weapons Valet' skill basically translates into the gameplay as "anything the group needs, Mouse is carrying it".
- The Beastmaster: The ultimate expression of his 'Zoology' skill is the ability to tame Jumanji's wildlife and command it, which he uses to commandeer an elephant in the finale of Welcome to the Jungle. The Next Level builds upon this by letting him actually speak to animals.
- Crippling Overspecialization: He has the skills 'zoology' and 'weapons valet', as well as a whopping three weaknesses; a fatal allergy to cake, and being the slowest and weakest member of the team. In The Next Level, he gains the skill 'Linguistics', but keeps all three weaknesses.
- Enemy Scan: His knowledge in zoology allows him to explain any animal they encounter and how they pose as a threat or methods to subdue them.
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: Zoology turns out to be really useful, as it allows Mouse to defang a Black Mamba after an Enemy Scan and tame an elephant.
- Human Pack Mule: His primary role is to carry around a backpack that contains weapons and items useful to the group. Fridge even lampshades it, calling him "Backpack guy".
- Meaningful Name: Finbar's nickname, "Mouse," is based on his diminutive size and quirky personality. It also comes into play when he has to tame an elephant. "Mouse and elephant."
- The Napoleon: In Kevin Hart form.
- Non-Action Guy: Downplayed. While he's not an action-oriented character like Bravestone and Ruby, his zoology skill does require him to do some kind of action, such as defanging a snake and taming and riding an elephant.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: In The Next Level, his new 'Linguistics' skill includes the ability to verbally communicate with animals.
- True Companions: In Jumanji's backstory, Dr. Bravestone saved Mouse from a warlord in the Peruvian jungle, and the two have been inseparable ever since.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Cake products of any kind cause him to spontaneously explode in-game. This traumatizes Fridge enough that by the end of The Next Level, he swears off cake in the real world entirely.
Ruby Roundhouse
Ruby Roundhouse
Played By: Karen Gillan
Appearances: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Jumanji: The Next Level
Fighter - Killer of Men. The second most badass avatar in the game. Her Skills are Karate, T'ai Chi, Aikido, and Dance Fighting. Unlike Bravestone, she has a single Weakness in Welcome to the Jungle, in the form of Weakness: Venom, which causes her to be extra vulnerable to poisons. The Next Level gives her a fifth combat skill in Nunchuk Mastery.
- Action Girl: Aside from Smolder, Ruby is the other combat-centric player character.
- Alliterative Name: Ruby Roundhouse.
- Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: She's the only female-bodied player character, and the only one with a bared midriff. If the Lara Croft-esque shorts aren't sexy enough, her crop-top yells out the fanserviciness in her outfit.
- Character Catchphrase: You guys like to dance?
- Dance Battler: One of her abilities is Dance Fighting, which translates to beatings scored to Big Mountain's cover of "Baby I Love Your Way" by Peter Frampton.
- Expy: Ruby Roundhouse is one for Lara Croft, a Ms. Fanservice adventurer who kicks all kinds of ass while inexplicably being dressed in a skimpy outfit.
- Fiery Redhead: She is a force to be reckoned with when fighting.
- Ms. Fanservice: A beautiful, athletic woman wearing Lara Croft-esque crop top and shorts. Ironically, Martha has to be coached into properly acting like one since in real life she is a shy girl.
- The Smurfette Principle: As stated above, she's the only female avatar in the game. Averted in The Next Level, where Ming Fleetfoot is added as another female avatar.
- Statuesque Stunner: Comes with being played by Karen Gillan. Out of five avatars, she's the lone female and towers over everyone except Bravestone, and she’s quite attractive.
- Super-Strength: While not to the same degree as Bravestone, she clearly is superhuman in physical ability. In the sequel when Fridge is trying out her body, he outright launches himself into the air when he tries to do a push-up and keeps marveling at how strong the body is. And if her Combat Dancing is active, she can take on a whole room of armed henchmen with little issue.
- Took a Level in Badass: Ruby was already tough the first time Martha played her in the game, but on her second visit Martha discovers that Ruby has gained an additional skill in the form of the ability to use nunchucks.
Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon
Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon
Played By: Jack Black
Appearances: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Jumanji: The Next Level
Cartographer — Archaeologist — Curvy Genius. His Skills are Cartography, Archaeology, and Paleontology, and his Weakness is Endurance. The Next Level adds the Geometry skill but also three more weaknesses: Heat, Sun, and Sand.
- Adventurer Outfit: He wears a scholar's version of the safari outfit, including a pith helmet.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: In the second game he gains expertise in geometry, which is vital to solving a puzzle with moving bridge segments.
- Butt-Monkey: In both films, his character is the first to die to demonstrate the lethality of the world of Jumanji, first when Bethany obliviously approaches a hippo, and second when Fridge explains to Eddie and Milo about his and Martha's previous experience only to get interrupted by a snake.
- Geek Physiques: He's short and chubby, being the brainy Non-Action Guy of the team.
- Gender-Blender Name: His nickname "Shelly" is often a boy or girl's name. In Welcome to the Jungle, this is why Bethany thought Shelly is a female sexy scientist instead of an overweight man.
- Irony: Serves as The Smart Guy of the avatars... yet The Smart Guy of the real world gang, Spencer, is the only one to never control Shelly.
- Nerf: In The Next Level, he gains three new weaknesses — Heat, Sun, and Sand.
- Non-Action Guy: He's a non-fighting avatar who supports the team with his scientific knowledge.
- The Smart Guy: He's supposed to be the brains of the team, with advanced knowledge in cartography, archaeology, and paleontology (as well as geometry in the sequel), making it all the more ironic when he's played by Bethany (and Fridge in the sequel).
Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonough
Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonough
Played By: Nick Jonas
Appearances: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Jumanji: The Next Level
Pilot - Rascal. The fifth playable character inside the game. We don't know his official Skills, but his Weakness is Mosquitoes.
- Ace Pilot: Oh, yes. Alex claims his skills are less than satisfactory, but given the skills he displays in the Vertical Scrolling Shooter section, it's more like the game punishing him for trying to complete the level alone.
- Cool Shades: Alex pulls a pair of aviator's shades out of nowhere during his Let's Get Dangerous! moment.
- Punny Name: Somewhat more subtle than the others; QED Jefferson Airplane.
- Universal Driver's License: He can pilot helicopters, airplanes, and hot air balloons.
- Weaksauce Weakness: He loses a life from a mosquito bite. And mosquitoes are everywhere in the Jumanji game.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Seaplane's two powers are piloting vehicles and making margaritas. Alex comments on how useless margarita making is when it comes to actually beating the game.
Ming Fleetfoot
Ming Fleetfoot
Played By: Awkwafina
Appearances: Jumanji: The Next Level
A new avatar introduced in The Next Level, and the only other female avatar. Skills are Burglary, Pickpocketing, and Safecracking; Weakness is Pollen.
- Classy Cat-Burglar: Her main role.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Played by the good guys and is the first player character to dress in black in contrast to two final bosses playing the inverse.
- Loveable Rogue: One of the game's heroes despite being a criminal.
- Meaningful Name: Her surname, "Fleetfoot," alludes to her talent as a stealthy thief.
- Safecracking: One of her strengths.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Her one weakness is pollen, though oddly enough this never actually becomes an issue beyond Spencer noting it basically makes her a female version of him.
Jurgen the Brutal
Jurgen the Brutal
Played By: Rory McCann
Appearances: Jumanji: The Next Level
The main antagonist and a new avatar of the game. A ruthless warlord and conqueror, responsible for the murder of Bravestone's parents when Bravestone was a child.
- All There in the Manual: The Reveal of his avatar nature will be explained in an upcoming Jumanji sequel.
- Always Someone Better: When Smolder first tries to fight Jurgen, he turns out to be far stronger, tougher, and bigger than even Smolder is.
- Bait the Dog: He is properly introduced proposing a toast to his hyenas' trainer, who had died. This seemingly sets him up as a Noble Demon, as if for all his barbaric nature he is still considerate of his followers. But then he reveals that he had personally killed the trainer for betraying him — and that the pieces of meat he is feeding the hyenas are in fact the remains of said trainer. Yeesh.
- Big Bad: Of The Next Level.
- Disney Villain Death: Falls to his death while fighting Spencer as Bravestone on his airship.
- Expy: He's basically a PG version of Sandor Clegane, only much eviler. It helps that Rory McCann uses the same accent that he used for the Hound.
- Knight of Cerebus: The darkest villain in the entire franchise. Jurgen the Brutal is a bloodthirsty warlord who's directly responsible for the death of Bravestone's parents and attempted to plunge Jumanji into a never-ending drought. Worst of all, as revealed during the final battle when Spencer accidentally triggers his stat chart, Jurgen is an avatar rather than an NPC — which means he's well aware of his actions throughout the game.
- Reused Character Design: He looks very similar to how Alan Parrish looked in the first film after being released from the jungle, complete with a beard.
- Super-Toughness: He's strong enough to No-Sell multiple Super-Strength punches to the face from Smolder.
- Weaksauce Weakness: His only weakness is the Jumanji Berry. Simply smearing its juice on his chest is enough to incapacitate him.
Cyclone
Cyclone
Appearances: Jumanji: The Next Level
A nonhuman avatar introduced in The Next Level. Weakness: Nonhuman (it's a horse, takes up space like a horse, and can't communicate without Mouse to act as translator). Skills: Voluntary Shapeshifting into a Pegasus.
- Cool Horse: It is a black horse with a badass name. And as it turns out its skill allows it to transform into a Pegasus.
- Dark Is Not Evil: A black horse on the side of the heroes.
- Flight: The only avatar capable of flight.
- Pegasus: He is revealed to be one at the end of The Next Level.
- Shout-Out: Possibly. He's a jet-black horse named after a wind storm, just like Zorro's horse Tornado.
Non-Playable Characters
Russel Van Pelt
Russell Van Pelt
Played By: Bobby Cannavale Other Languages
Appearances: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
The evil character who has taken over the land of Jumanji inside the game.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Played with. This Van Pelt looks a great deal younger than the original one, but he is also creepier due to the Red Right Hand listed below.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the 1995 movie, Van Pelt was an Egomaniac Hunter sent to kill Alan and only him, being bound by the games' rules to not harm his friends because they didn't roll the dice. This Van Pelt has no such reservation with threatening any of the kids to get what he wants. Justified since the rules and circumstances of the game changed drastically and his motivations are radically different in this version of the game.
- Ambition Is Evil: At first he was just a determined archaeologist who wanted to find proof of the Jaguar Shrine. Once he found it and removed the Jaguar's Eye as proof of his discovery, he immediately turned corrupt and power-hungry. After that, he didn't care about the discovery anymore, now all that mattered was keeping the jewel for himself.
- Bad Boss: When one of his lackeys fails to catch the heroes, he executes him by stinging him with a scorpion.
- The Beastmaster: He gained the ability to control animals with his presence.
- Big Bad: Of Welcome to the Jungle.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: When Smolder returns the jewel back to its rightful place, Van Pelt disintegrates into a horde of rats.
- Dark Is Evil: He is the Big Bad, dresses in dark clothing, always seems to be seen in shadow, and has a black vulture as a Non-Human Sidekick.
- Generic Doomsday Villain: He has really no motivations for his actions. He wants the jewel back, but we have no clue what he would do with it. Justified since he's solely created to be a generic threat to inconvenience the heroes.
- The Infested: Van Pelt was cursed so that his body is filled with rats, spiders, millipedes and various dangerous creatures. He seems to have complete control over the creatures, as he uses them to kill any henchman who disappoints him.
- Lovecraftian Superpower: In addition to controlling animals, Van Pelt has the ability to store them inside his body, such as centipedes and scorpions.
- Named by the Adaptation: Downplayed. This time around, he has the first name "Russell".
- Non-Human Sidekick: He has a black vulture used to spy on the heroes and inform him of their location.
- Obviously Evil: Unlike the Van Pelt from the original movie, this take on the character is very visibly the bad guy, between his dressing in dark clothing, having a sinister-looking vulture as a sidekick, and being possessed of a genuinely creepy Red Right Hand.
- Red Right Hand: His left eye looks bright green as a result of being exposed to the Jaguar's Eye, to make his appearance even more sinister than it already is.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: He never gets above a quiet, hoarse growl, even when holding Shelly at gunpoint or letting out a Little "No" when the title characters return the jewel.
- We Used to Be Friends: According to his backstory at least, he was friends with Smolder before becoming his rival.
- Would Hit a Girl: Played with. He holds a gun to Bethany's head when asking for the heroes to return the jewel, but she is a girl in a male avatar.
- Would Hurt a Child: Played with. Van Pelt has no problem attacking a group of teens, but they're all in adult bodies.
- The Worm That Walks: Downplayed, since he lets several bugs inhabit his body. Then when the jewel is returned and his body is hit by the World-Healing Wave, he just turns into a collapsing mass of bugs and rats.
Nigel Billingsley
Nigel Billingsley
Played By: Rhys Darby
Appearances: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Jumanji: The Next Level
The guide who explains the plot of the game to the heroes.
- Adventurer Archaeologist: He is an experienced jungle field guide who knows a lot about ancient temples and is respectful about the potential misuse of the Jewel of Jumanji.
- Just Eat Gilligan: The in-game story would've probably been over and done with if Nigel just went directly for the Jaguar statue and returned the jewel after swiping it from Van Pelt instead of writing a letter to Dr. Bravestone and having his team do it for him, allowing Van Pelt to mobilize his men and have time to prepare obstacles for the player characters. But then again, we wouldn't have a story now, would we?
- Large Ham: Part of his Mr. Exposition role is talking at the top of his lungs.
- Mr. Exposition: He serves as the field guide to the kids and explains the game's plot to them and what they should do in order to return home.
- Welcome to Corneria: Nigel is an artificial non-playable character and not a real person, therefore his dialogue is very limited to provide exposition to the players and repeat it whenever necessary.
