Characters / Motu Patlu

Motu and Patlu

As a Whole

• Brains and Brawn: Motu is a Dumb Muscle who literally cannot think on an empty stomach, leaving the smarter Patlu to brainstorm most of the ideas for him.
• Dub Name Change: In the Sinhalese dub, Motu is renamed Sutin and Patlu is renamed Matin.
• Fat and Skinny: Motu is fat and Patlu is skinny. Their names are literally the Hindi words for "fat" and "skinny" respectively.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: For starters, they are very rarely ever seen apart and live in the same house together.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Motu is more hot-tempered (red) while Patlu is considerably calmer (blue).
• Sibling Team: In the original comics, Motu and Patlu are brothers who work as a team to take care of whatever problems come their way. The Nickelodeon India TV show makes them friends rather than siblings.
• Theme Naming: "Motu" is the Hindi word for "fat" and "Patlu" is Hindi for "skinny", fitting how the two are a Fat and Skinny duo.
• Those Two Guys: Motu and Patlu are rarely seen apart.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: Motu and Patlu are brothers in the original comics, which is changed to friends in the TV show.

Motu

• Big Eater: He loves to eat food, but in particular he'll do just about anything to eat samosas.
• Character Catchphrase: He often reminds Patlu that "My brain doesn't function on an empty stomach! You think of something!" when he is asked to come up with an idea.
• Chaste Toons: He does not have any children of his own, but he does have a nephew named Chotu.
• Dumb Muscle: What he lacks in intelligence, he makes up for in strength, especially if he eats a samosa. Even Boxer, who is usually the strongest person in Furfuri Nagar, is unable to withstand Motu's muscle power if he eats a samosa.
• Fat Idiot: Motu's got quite a bulky physique and he tends to do some rather... not smart stuff as well as misunderstand things easily.
• Literal-Minded: Motu has a tendency to take metaphors too literally, such as literally eating his instructions when told in metaphor to "digest" the knowledge in "Robot of Chatpata Nagar" and literally trying to fly when told by Patlu to "fly away" (as in, run away) from the fireball aliens in "Fire Ball Aliens".
• Obsessed with Food: Particularly samosas, which he'll do just about anything in his power to consume. He's so obsessed with them (and food in general) that he seems physically incapable of thinking on an empty stomach, which he reminds Patlu of quite a bit.
• Power-Up Food: Samosas are one for him, as there are quite a few instances where he becomes considerably stronger if he eats them.
• Primary-Color Champion: Motu is one of the main characters of the series and has all three primary colors in his signature outfit (red shirt, dark blue vest, yellow pants).
• Trademark Favorite Food: Motu loves to eat samosas.

Patlu

• Bald Head of Toughness: Patlu does not have any hair, unlike Motu who has some on the sides of his head. Patlu is weaker physically than Motu, but he's much smarter (and thus mentally tougher) and usually comes up with ideas for him.

• Character Catchphrase: He says "Idea!" whenever he comes up with an idea. Usually, an Idea Bulb will also appear near his head whenever he says this.
• Purely Aesthetic Glasses: Patlu can see perfectly fine without his glasses. They're probably just there to establish that he's much smarter than Motu.

Friends of Motu and Patlu

Inspector Chingum

• Character Catchphrase: He has several; "Why fear, when Chingum is here?", "It is impossible to escape from Chingum's web, impossible!", and "Stop! Stop in the name of the law!".
• Dub Name Change: Known as Inspector Lucky in the Sinhalese dub.
• Coconut Meets Cranium: The show has a Running Gag where coconuts fall on Chingum's head whenever he shoots his gun in the air.
• Spell My Name With An S: Is it Chingum, Chingam, or Chingham◊?

Dr. Jhatka

• Character Catchphrase: He often says "I swear on my patients!", and "May all the bitter medicines fall into your mouth!" when someone or something frustrates him.
• Gadgeteer Genius: He makes lots of inventions for Motu and Patlu to use.
• Red/Green Contrast: Dr. Jhatka wears a green shirt and is a Gadgeteer Genius, contrasting with Motu who wears a red shirt and is ditzy.
• Science Hero: Dr. Jhatka uses his scientific knowledge to make many different inventions for Motu and Patlu to use.

Ghasitaram

• Character Catchphrase: Whenever he's met with an unusual situation, he says something along the lines of "In all my 20 years of experience, I've never seen this before!"

Chaiwala

• Non-Indicative Name: "Chaiwala" typically refers to a person who serves teas. This Chaiwala serves samosas instead.

Boxer

• Red Boxing Gloves: Boxer has such an affection for boxing that he wears red-colored boxing gloves literally all the time, even if he's doing basically anything besides boxing, such as driving his car.

John the Don and his team

As a Whole

• The Team: They work as a team to try to hurt Motu and Patlu.
• Terrible Trio: John the Don, Number 1, and Number 2 serve as the antagonists of the series.
• Thief Bag: They have been seen stashing their stolen loot into big bags.

John the Don

• Beard of Evil: John is the main villain of the series and has a goatee.
• Big Bad: He is the villain who constantly tries (and fails) to harm Motu and Patlu.
• Character Catchphrase: "Jon banega Don" ("Jon will become the Don").
• Rhymes on a Dime: John constantly rhymes his dialogue, which often causes Number 1 to congratulate him for making such wonderful "poems". This is averted in the English dub, though Number 1 still praises him for "speaking like a poet".
• Villainous Gold Tooth: He is the series' Big Bad who always tries to harm Motu and Patlu. He has a few golden teeth in his mouth.

Number 1 and Number 2

• Speech Impediment: Number 2 has a lisp that sometimes makes it hard for other characters to understand what he's saying.
• You Are Number 6: Neither of them are known by their real names, since John only ever refers to them as Number 1 and Number 2.