Characters / Mahabharata The Pandavas

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The Pandavas

The Pandavas were the five brothers begotten by the Devas on King Pandu's wives. They are the protagonists for most of the Mahabharata.

Tropes applying to the group:

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• Bash Brothers: They all fight together in the war, and carefully look after each others' well-being.
• Divine Parentage: The Pandavas are all fathered by the Gods. Yuddhistira's father was Dharma (the God of righteousness), Arjuna's was Indra (the supreme god of the heavens) and Bhima's was Vayu (the wind god). Nakula and Sahadeva are fathered by the Ashwini twins (who are gods of horsemanship and protect travelers, but otherwise just renowned for their beauty).
• Karmic Death: They die on pilgrimage to the Himalayas because their sins weight them so heavily, they drop dead from being crushed by it. Yudhistra is the only one who successfully completes the journey, being the most virtuous, and only dying after his mortal duty is complete.

Yudhistra

The oldest brother, and the leader of the Pandavas. Known as the Dharma King, Yudhistra is philosophical, introspective, and concerned with righteousness. He was the rightful king of Indraprastha, until he lost everything in a rigged dice game to Duryodhana.

• Exact Words: When their teacher Drona goes into a rampage on the Pandava army, it is decided that the only weakness Drona has would be his son Ashwattama. So Bhima kills an elephant also named Ashwattama and proceeds to loudly exclaim that he killed Ashwattama. Drona, who could not believe it easily, asks Yudhistra, who never lies, if that's true. Yudishtra says that it's true; Bhima killed Ashwattama (while whispering "the elephant" under his breath). Drona then goes catatonic mourning his presumably dead son and gets killed easily while his guard is down. Because of this, Yudhistira's chariot, that always floats several inches from the ground because of his virtuousness, immediately sinks to the ground, because Exact Words or not, lying is still lying, and his "little white lie" just caused an otherwise invincible warrior to suffer Death by Despair.
• Fatal Flaw: His love of gambling, which gets him suckered into Shakuni's trap that loses him his kingdom, causes his family's exile, and eventually triggers an incredibly disruptive war.
• The Gambling Addict: Has a love of gambling that can be uncontrollable, as seen by the fact that he wagers his wife, brothers, and kingdom on a game he should have known he would lose.
• Ideal Hero: Known as the Dharma King, his defining trait is his righteousness and attention to dharma. Obviously subject to Alternative Character Interpretation.
• The Magnificent: He's known as the Dharma King.
• The Philosopher King: Known for his love of wisdom and justice, Yudhistra is deeply reflective and interested in engaging in philosophical discussions with Krishna. He was also a king before he lost his kingdom to Duryodhana in a bet.
• Mr. Vice Guy: A hero who's addicted to gambling.
• Weapon Specialization: His weapon was the spear, which he had mastered. He was so skilled and powerful that his spear could pierce solid stone as easily as paper, but his martial prowess usually takes backseat to his wisdom in the story.

Bhima

The loud, brash, and incredibly strong Pandava brother. His relentless childhood bullying of Duryodhana set the stage for the family rivalry and eventual war.

• Anti-Hero: He's notably the most morally deficit of the Pandava; he's violent, rude, arrogant, and gluttonous. The Kaurava hate him the most because he kept bullying them by showing off his divine strength in wrestling matches they didn't want. His temper is very explosive and his rampage on Durshasana is so brutal that warriors on both side are frightened by it. And after the war is over, he proceeds to insult the Kuru elders, they exile themselves and die in forest fire.
• Arch-Enemy: To Duryodhana since childhood.
• Big Eater: Loved to eat and cook delicacies. This is also the reason he dies a Karmic Death because he was a glutton.
• Big Fun: If he's not in his worst temper, Bhima is a jolly, cheerful, generous, chivalrous toward women, and loyal bear of a man.
• The Big Guy: Known for his incredible strength, he is the most enthusiastic about battle of any of the Pandavas.
• Blood Knight: Loves fighting more than anything. After one particularly difficult battle, he drinks his defeated opponent's blood.
• Carry a Big Stick: His signature weapon is a mace. For the Kurukshetra war, he gets to use a massive club once wielded by King Manu and his half-brother Hanunam that can actually handle his enormous strength.
• One-Man Army: Kills dozens of enemies all by himself in a short duration of time.
• Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up: Bhima made a habit of tormenting the Kaurava brothers when they were children because none of them save Duryodhana was a match for him in combat. He grows up to kill most of them during the war.
• Supreme Chef: Became the head chef at King Virata's palace when the Pandavas had to go incognito for one year. Doubles as Real Men Cook, as Bhima was a mountain of a man preached as one of the pinnacles of masculinity to strive towards in Hindu tradition.
• World's Strongest Man: Has superhuman strength of dozens of men, and is considered physically stronger than any other character.
• Wrecked Weapon: He frequently ended up destroying whatever he was wielded as none of them were able to handle his sheer strength until he acquired the enormous mace of King Manu.

Arjuna

The dashing, heroic Pandava brother. Arjuna is a brave and skilled warrior, though he tends to act rashly.

• Above the Influence: When Arjuna went to heaven, the celestial damsel Urvashi was attracted to him. She was ordered by Indra to seduce him and she complied. However, Arjuna rejected her because... She was the wife of Pururavas, the earliest human ancestor of Arjuna. Although Urvashi assured him that he would not incur a sin from having an affair since morality is different among damsels, Arjuna refused to do so. Urvashi was enraged and cursed him to become a eunuch for a year.
• The Ace: Arjuna is known as the best archer to ever exist at any point in history.
• Arch-Enemy: Karna is the most consistent opponent Arjuna ever has. From their first meeting that denied Karna a chance to prove his martial prowess to the Kuruksetra, Arjuna and Karna are always clashing to the point of their divine fathers, Indra and Surya, make a bet on whose son is better.
• Cain and Abel: Abel to Karna's Cain. Arjuna beheads Karna in their fateful duel, only to later discover his true identity as Kunti's illegitimate son and therefore his elder brother.
• Celibate Hero: Very technically. Celibacy is defined differently in the Mahabharata than almost anywhere else. It is described most of all as a lack of sexual lust. Thus, Arjuna is described to be a bramhachari ('celibate') despite marrying Draupadi and Subhadra, sleeping with Chitraganda and Ulupi because he is sleeping with them only for procreation.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: Arjuna's defeat is not against other kshatriya, but against a group of common bandits. When Khrisna's kingdom Dwarka sinks into the sea, Arjuna is helping Krishna's widows evacuating the city. On their way, a group of bandits intercepts the caravan and when Arjuna tries to invoke his divine bow Gandiva to exterminate the bandits, he finds out that the bow had lost its powers and he could no longer string it. Khrisna's widows get kidnapped and never to be seen again.
• Kick the Dog: His callous and enthusiastic murder of all but one of Karna's nine sons as well as Karna himself. When Karna stops the battle to try to free his chariot from the earth's grasp, Arjuna is incited by Krishna to ignore Karna's plea and resumes the attack, killing his greatest rival (and brother) when he can't defend himself.
• Master Archer: Arjuna is the world's best archer, master of celestial weapons, and the wielder of Gandiva, a Legendary Bow made by the gods. He performs great solo feats of heroism and is able to fend off dozens of soldiers on his own with his bow.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Had to do so for one year due to a curse from Urvashi. He taught princess Uttara singing, dancing, and music. Funnily, she became his daughter-in-law.

Nakula and Sahadeva

The other two brothers.

• The Beastmaster: Nakula was an exceptional equestrian and charioteer while Sahadeva had an innate talent for taming bulls and herding cattle.
• Master Swordsman: Both are said to be excellent swordsmen.
• The Quiet One: Both rarely speak, especially Nakula, and it's noted as unusual when both speak up to offer Yudhistra advice after the war.
• Single-Minded Twins: They are basically treated interchangeably by the story.
• Satellite Character: They don't have nearly as much characterization or role in the story as the other Pandavas.
• Single-Minded Twins: Both twins are used interchangeably in the text and have few traits that distinguish them from one another.
• The Smart Guy: Nakula was an expert physician, and Sahadeva possessed vast knowledge of various subjects and was said to be the wisest of the Pandavas. Sahadeva has a divine wisdom that not even he could normally access; doing so would make his head immediately explode.

Draupadi

The beautiful, proud wife of all five Pandavas.

• Artificial Human: She was born from a sacrificial fire along with her twin Dhrishtadyumna, as adults because their father Draupada mocked his childhood promise with Drona to give him a cow and annexed his kingdom in retaliation. The twins are born as a method of revenge; Dhrishtadymna would kill Drona, while Draupadi would "took" Drona's students away from him.
• Attempted Rape: Becomes the victim of this, several times.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: She wanted a husband with all these great qualities. And she got five of them, and even becomes The High Queen, but she gets caught in the middle of the conflict between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Karna has all of the traits that she desires, but she rejects him because of his caste. Had she not and accept him as her husband, most of her troubles might be non-existent.
• Born as an Adult: From a sacrificial fire
• Bowdlerized: In the Javanese version of the story, she is married only to Yuddhisthra, because by the time the story made it over to Java, Islam had already taken hold there. And though Islam allows a man to have up to four wives, as long as he can take care of them all equally, it specifically forbids a woman to have more than one husband at a time. Therefore, the reason she collapses on the mountain climb to Heaven is that she lusts after Arjuna (who is married to Subhadra). In the original, the reason she collapses is that she loved Arjuna the most, even though she was supposed to love all of her husbands equally.
• Despair Event Horizon: When her sons are all killed in the war.
• The High Queen: She is a bit Yandere, a bit Defrosting Ice Queen, a bit Lady Macbeth and a bit of everything else. It's hard to classify her. She vows revenge on the Kauravas for her humiliation and gets it but in the process loses her five children, her father and both her brothers.
• Lady Macbeth: Her humiliation by the Kaurava is the last straw that makes the Pandava declaring war on their cousins. Never mind that Draupadi was humiliated in the first place because she insulted Duryodhana's father Dhritarashtra for his blindness when Duryodhana accidentally slipped in a pond.
• Pals with Jesus: Or rather, with both Krishna and Shiva. Especially the former.
• Polyamory: Has 5 husbands, because she prayed for a more-or-less perfect man with a variety of great traits in a previous life, but it was nigh-impossible to fit them all into one person. Karna fits these traits, but she rejects him outright based on his caste. She's something of an Unbuilt Trope in that she clear loves some husbands more than the others. She's immediately taken with the brave and upright Arjuna, who won her hand, and Bhima's ferocity makes him a kindred spirit — he of the all the brothers is the most directly dedicated towards avenging her humiliation. But she is consistently resentful of and exasperated with Yudhistira's propensity for forgiving the undeserving, and never quite forgets that his gambling addiction led to her humiliation. When she ascends Mount Kailash with the Pandavas, she dies first because she did not love her five husbands equally.
• Technical Virgin: Is lauded as a holy virgin, even though she has 5 husbands and has a son by each of them. Shiva also lets her know that her virginity is renewed each time she bathes.