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Nemo
Voiced by: Takuma Gōno (JP), Gabriel Damon (EN)
- Berserk Button: Don't make fun of his pajamas, and don't insult Icarus either.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's a shy, easily scared and slightly immature kid, but when he gets serious, Nemo becomes a force to be reckoned with.
- Curtains Match the Window: Brown hair and eyes.
- Disney Death: Nemo seemingly perishes after using up all of his strength to charge the royal scepter to maximum power and kills the Nightmare King with it, but Morpheus revives him.
- The Hero: The plot follows Nemo's journey from a simple guest of Slumberland to its eventual savior.
- It's All My Fault: He feels terrible that he broke his promise to King Morpheus which resulted in his capture, and even worse later on when Camille is captured as well after he failed to protect her in time.
- Karmic Jackpot: Nemo choosing to befriend the Boomps instead of buying into Flip's Malicious Slander against them pays off for him later on, because they're the ones who join him and Icarus in the final battle against the Nightmare King, providing great help to secure Nemo's victory.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He immediately feels the guilt over unlocking the forbidden door after witnessing King Morpheus being taken away.
- Pajama-Clad Hero: He does occasionally get the chance to change out of his pajamas, but just ends up back in them again at the start of each new dream.
- Sweet Tooth: He has a habit sneaking late-night helpings of pies from his mother. Also, he was reluctant about going to Slumberland until Bon Bon presented him with a box of cookies from the princess.
- Took a Level in Badass: Over the course of his Slumberland adventures, Nemo changes from a rather naïve and gullible boy to a brave and determined one who personally defeats the Nightmare King himself.
Princess Camille
Voiced by: Hiroko Kasahara (JP), Laura Mooney (EN)
- Adaptational Dye-Job: In the original comics, Princess Camille had black hair.
- Beware the Nice Ones: The princess rarely gets angry, but when she does, it can be quite terrifying. Just ask Flip, who ends up on the receiving end of Camille's powerful knock out punch when he pisses her off one too many times.
- Cute Bruiser: Flip found this out the hard way.
- Fiery Redhead: Downplayed in that she isn't normally angry, but when her temper does flare up, it's quite impressive.
- I Am Very British: In the English dub, she speaks with a posh British accent, which makes sense considering she is a princess, but it does waver a lot.
- Jerkass to One: Camille is kind and sympathetic to everyone except Flip, who instead receives almost nothing but scorn from her. For good reason too, considering how much of an obnoxious jerk Flip himself is, plus the fact that she rightfully blames him for her father's captor by the Nightmare King. She only shows concern or sympathy for Flip on three occasions: first, when he is thought to be in danger after splitting off from the gang to redraw his map; second, when he is the first of the group to be captured by the Nightmare King's minions during their ambush; and third, at the end, after he gets a severe coughing fit after taking a large puff of an oversized cigar left over from his last prank on her, Nemo, and Icarus as they are leaving Slumberland to return the latter two home.
- Lonely Rich Kid: The royal kind. Nemo was summoned to Slumberland in the first place to be a companion for her.
- Nice Girl: She comes across as rather stuck up and rude at the beginning, but she quickly learns from her mistake as Nemo points it out, and is otherwise nothing but gracious, polite and kind towards Nemo and her people. The only person Camille is almost never nice to is Flip, and for very understandable reasons.
- Official Couple: Eventually with Nemo.
- Royal Brat: She shows shades of this when she first meets Nemo, but her brighter colors quickly come out when he tells her off for her attitude.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: She accompanies Nemo, Professor Genius and Flip to Nightmareland to rescue her father.
- Tsundere: She starts off being harsh towards Nemo, but she gradually softens up a bit. However, she's still harsh towards Flip, not that he doesn't deserve it.
- The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: King Morpheus isn't exactly ugly, but his advanced age and girth combined with his jolly nature causes a visual dissonance between him and the pretty and petite Camille.
King Morpheus
Voiced by: Kenji Utsumi (JP), Bernard Erhard (EN)
- Affectionate Nickname: He insists that Nemo simply refer to him as Morphy as a sign of their friendship.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Morpheus is usually sweet and kindly, but he makes it clear that he'll also do what needs to be done to keep his kingdom safe from the Nightmare King and all others that would threaten it. His demonstration of the Royal Scepter's power is basically a stern reminder to all that anyone who dares to set foot in Slumberland with malicious intent will be zapped to nothingness.
- Big Fun: He is a very large and jovial fellow.
- The Big Guy: How he can ride on his toy train without crushing it is anyone's guess.
- Distressed Dude: The whole conflict involves him being abducted by the Nightmare King.
- The Good King: Oh so very much. Morpheus is a jolly, fun-loving king who quickly bonds with Nemo thanks to his own childlike exuberance, and proves to be a kind-hearted and generous ruler loved by all within Slumberland.
- Like a Son to Me: He quickly sees Nemo this way.
- Manchild: He has a huge playroom filled with toys.
Professor Genius
Voiced by: Kōichi Kitamura (JP), René Auberjonois (EN)
- Hat of Authority: His tall stovepipe hat gives him an air of authority when he first appears.
- The Herald: Starts Nemo off on his journey by coming into his room to present Nemo with Camille's invitation.
- Not So Above It All: He's normally all about business and discipline, but when he gets on the dance floor...
Icarus
Voiced by: Danny Mann (EN)
- Berserk Button: He does not take kindly to being called a rat.
- Badass Adorable: He'll attack pretty much anyone or anything that tries to harm Nemo or his friends regardless of the risk.
- Cute, but Cacophonic: In-universe example. For some reason, his squeaky voice hurts the Boomps' ears, causing them great discomfort (especially when he's screaming) and only them. It's never really explained why this is the case, though Icarus does learn to tone down his voice when speaking near them out of consideration.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: A cute and adorable looking flying squirrel. Camille certainly thinks so.
- Sweet Tooth: He enjoys the Princess's cookies just as much as Nemo.
- Talking Animal: It's barely comprehensible due to his speech being all screechy and squirrel-like, but Icarus can actually speak in full sentences if you listen carefully.
- Undying Loyalty: To Nemo. This little guy almost never leaves Nemo's side through thick and thin (save for the time where he stays with Camille after Nemo is whisked of to his prince lessons until reuniting with him at his coronation), and even braves through the Nightmare King's magical assaults to help Nemo vanquish the demonic being for good.
Flip
Voiced by: Chikao Ohtsuka (JP), Mickey Rooney (EN)
- Beware the Silly Ones: He's quite the energetic and playful one, but he's hardly a harmless character owing to his recklessness and inability to think things through.
- The Chew Toy: Flip goes through a lot of pain and humiliation throughout the film, and the other characters make no secret that they delight in his suffering (particularly Camille). This would be depressing if not for the fact that Flip is an obnoxious, selfish and unrepentant troublemaker who's more than earned people's scorn towards him.
- Cigar Chomper: Has an unhealthy cigar addiction.
- Easily Forgiven:
- Averted with Camille, who orders Flip's execution (technically "banishment" by being blasted to outer space via cannon) when she finds out that the Nightmare King's attack on Slumberland (which resulted in her father's kidnapping) was largely his fault. He's only spared in the last minute because Nemo arrives to inform Camille that Flip carries a map to Nightmareland that only he can read. Camille reluctantly agrees to drop Flip's punishment so he can serve as a guide on the expedition to save Morpheus, but she also makes it clear that she still hates his guts and relishes at every opportunity to make him miserable throughout the journey, starting with banning him from his favorite past time of smoking cigars. However, she does show concern for Flip on several occasions: first, when he is thought to be in danger after splitting off from the gang to redraw his map; second, when he is the first of the group to be captured by the Nightmare King's minions during their ambush; and third, at the end, after he gets a severe coughing fit after taking a large puff of an oversized cigar left over from his last prank on her, Nemo, and Icarus as they are leaving Slumberland to return the latter two home.
- Nemo is a downplayed case. While he still shows enough concern for Flip to go rescue him when he's in danger and to offer help when Camille orders Flip to carry everyone's luggage by himself, Nemo also hasn't forgotten the fact that Flip is a Fair-Weather Friend who tried to throw him under the bus. It's quite obvious that whatever fondness he may have had for Flip at the start has been replaced with wariness and lowkey disdain.
- Dirty Coward: He'll do whatever he can to save his own ass in a sticky situation.
- Fun Personified: A dark version of this trope. He presents himself as a mere prankster and that his jokes are "all in good fun", but his idea of "fun" has little regard for consequences or for others' wellbeing.
- Hated by All: Flip is widely disliked throughout Slumberland. Easy to see why, considering how much of a lying, troublemaking jerk he is. Even the normally kind and soft-spoken Professor Genius has nothing but harsh words towards him.
- It's All About Me: He's more concerned about himself than anyone else.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed. More like a "heart of bronze" at best, and that's being generous. Flip is an unpleasant man to his core, causing trouble everywhere he goes and never feels the least bit of shame or remorse for his actions. The only reason he ends up helping Nemo and the others later on is because Princess Camille coerces him to do it, on the condition that if he doesn't atone for his part in releasing Nightmare upon Slumberland, he'll be banished/executed. Flip isn't eager to wade into danger for anyone's sake, nor does he provide much help apart from providing the map to Nightmareland and carrying luggage. To his credit, he does at least try to be of some use and makes no attempt to backstab the others during the journey itself, so that's something. At the end, when Nemo seemingly dies after using the scepter to destroy the Nightmare King, Flip appears genuinely aggrieved over his death as well as possibly finally feeling guilty over talking him into releasing the Nightmare King to begin with, until Morpheus revives him.
- Never My Fault: He blames Nemo for opening the door containing the Nightmare King and denies having any involvement with it himself, despite being the one to talk Nemo into doing so in the first place.
- The Trickster: Resuming the role he had in the comics as a trouble-maker.
- Too Dumb to Live: Flip has a nasty habit of pushing his luck even when it's obvious that he's digging his own grave, such as urging Nemo to open the forbidden door to Nightmareland despite all the warnings. Then there's him still acting smug right after being shown mercy by Princess Camille, annoying the powerful monarch to her face and somehow forgetting the fact that she can redeclare his Public Execution at any moment. Flip is lucky his continued idiotic antics only earns him a knock out punch from the angered Camille.
Bon Bon
Voiced by: Sherry Lynn (EN)
- Ambiguous Gender: Bon Bon looks like a girl and sounds like one, but it's never made clear what his/her gender is supposed to be.
- Blush Sticker: S/he has two large, circular red circles around his/her cheeks, adding to the cuteness.
- Meaningful Name: "Bonbon" refers to a sweet and small confection. The same also applies to this Bon Bon in terms of his/her sweet and kindly disposition.
- Nice Girl: S/he's very sweet and cheerful, fitting his/her name.
The Boomps
Oomp voiced by: Keiichi Nanba (JP), Alan Oppenheimer (EN)
Oompo voiced by: Masaharu Satō (JP), John Stephenson (EN)
Oompa voiced by: Hiroshi Ōtake (JP), Neil Ross (EN)
Oompe voiced by: Kōzō Shioya (JP), Sidney Miller (EN)
Oompy voiced by: Hiroko Emori (JP), Michael Bell (EN)
- Gentle Giant: Oompo, the largest of the Boomps, is just as kind and helpful as the rest of the others.
- "I Am" Song: "We Are the Boomps" is all about explaining what kind of creatures they are to Nemo and the others, and how they're not malevolent but just misunderstood beings.
- Minion with an F in Evil: As creatures of Nightmareland, they are technically part of the Nightmare King's army, but their non-malicious nature causes them to reject their king's evil ways and defect to Nemo's side as soon as they're given the opportunity.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: The only good-natured goblins in Nightmareland. So much, in fact, that they are shunned by the rest and deemed as "failures" by the Nightmare King.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: They can change their shape and meld with themselves.
The Nightmare King
Voiced by: Tarō Ishida (JP), Bill Martin (EN)
- Big Bad: Serves as this for the film. The NES game by Capcom uses this to make him the Final Boss.
- Blob Monster: One of the forms he takes when released from the forbidden door is a giant mass of black goo, which he uses to capture King Morpheus and teleport him to Nightmareland.
- Evil Overlord: He rules over Nightmareland, the Evil Counterpart of Slumberland.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Booming, powerful, and full of menacing vibrato.
- Hostage for MacGuffin: Having captured most of Nemo's friends, the Nightmare King demands the Scepter from him for their safety.
- Knight of Cerebus: He wasn't in the original comics, which had no real antagonist to speak of outside Flip. And in the movie itself, the movie takes a much darker and more serious tone as soon as his existence is revealed to Nemo.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The one thing on his body that isn't black are his burning red eyes and the hateful glare he gives the world.
The Stingray
- The Dragon: To the Nightmare King.
The Gargoyles
The Water Goblins
- One-Scene Wonder: They are only encountered in Nightmareland's murky swamp area, where Nemo and the others first arrive via boat. Three of them emerge to try and drag down Princess Camille only to be scared off by the Royal Scepter, never to show up again.
- Our Goblins Are Different: These guys look practically nothing like any standard fantasy depictions of goblins, instead resembling Fish People in all but name.
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