Characters / The Princess Bride

Characters in The Princess Bride and its film adaptation.

In The Story

Westley

Westley

"As you wish."

Portrayed by: Cary Elwes

Buttercup's true love, who left to find work so that he could provide for her. She received word that he had been killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts.

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• The Ace: As Inigo puts it, Westley is stronger than Fezzik, more skilled than Inigo, and smarter than Vizzini.
• Acquired Poison Immunity: He has spent years "building up an immunity to iocaine powder."
• Adaptational Heroism: The book subtly paints Westley as a Nominal Hero who is in love with idea of Buttercup but barely tolerates her in-person, to the point where he was fully prepared to kill her if she turned out to be unfaithful. Nothing like this is suggested in the movie, where the two get along swimmingly. ...Eventually.
• Arch-Enemy: Prince Humperdinck, an entitled noble who wants to force his beloved Princess Buttercup to marry him.
• Back from the Dead: After the report that he had been killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts, he shows up as the Dread Pirate Roberts to save Buttercup.Westley (mostly) dies due to torture, but is brought back thanks to the Miracle Pill.
• Bits of Me Keep Passing Out: Inverted and Played for Laughs as it takes a while for Miracle Max's cure to fully take effect on Westley, and Inigo and Fezzik have to carry him around while Storming the Castle as bits him are "waking up" one at a time.
• The Big Damn Kiss: "Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. The End." Made ironic when the kid insists on skipping or editing all the kissy stuff at first but starts enjoying it by the end (film only).
• The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In: During his duel with Inigo Montoya, the Man in Black throws his sword. It spins end over end and impales itself in the ground point first.
• Cold-Blooded Torture:
  • Courtesy of Count Rugen
  • In the book, it goes a bit more in depth. Rugen tortures Westley through various methods while constructing The Machine, and Westley is shown to be immune to every single one of them by taking his mind away from the pain and imagining himself with Buttercup, though he fakes being in pain (which Count Rugen picks up on). The Machine, however, completely destroys this defense, and leaves him as little more than a quivering mess.
• Cool Mask: He wears a mask as the Man in Black.
  Fezzik: Why are you wearing a mask? Were you burned by acid or something like that?
  Man in Black: No, it's just that they are terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.
• Dark Is Not Evil: As the Dread Pirate Roberts, Westley wears dark clothing and is a good guy.
• Deadpan Snarker: Before he reveals to Buttercup that he is indeed Westley, he occasionally snarks at her. Later he starts snarking at Humperdinck. Also, the whole conversation while he's climbing the Cliffs of Insanity.
  Inigo: Hello there! Slow going?
  Westley: Look, I don't mean to be rude, but this is not as easy as it looks, so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't distract me.
  Inigo: Right, right. Sorry.
  Westley: Thank you.
  [Beat]
  Inigo: I do not suppose you could-a speed things up?
  Westley: Look, if you're in such a hurry, you could lower a rope or a tree branch or find something useful to do.
  Inigo: I could do that. I have got some more rope up here. But I do not think you would accept my help, since I am only waiting around up here to kill you.
  Westley: That does put a damper on our relationship.
  Inigo: But… I promise I will not kill you until you reach the top.
  Westley: That's very comforting. But I'm afraid you'll just have to wait.
  Inigo: I hate waiting. Could I give you my word as a Spaniard?
  Westley: No good. I've known too many Spaniards.
  Inigo: Is there any way you'll trust me?
  Westley: Nothing comes to mind.
• Death Is Cheap: He dies from the torture device. Miracle Max helps him shrug it off.
• The Dreaded: As the Dread Pirate Roberts, it's in the name. When people hear he's approaching, they tend to turn tail and run.
• Farmboy: Starts out as one before leaving to find his fortune.
• Guile Hero: Though he's a very good fighter, he tends to rely on his wits and his fast-talking skills.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Very blond, as well as (deep down) kindhearted and loyal.
• The Hero: The handsome and skilled protagonist and love interest.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: Well, more like "I am not left-handed either." After Inigo starts fighting with his dominant hand, Westley does the same.
• Lady and Knight: Or Lady and Pirate, whatever. The Knight to Buttercup's Lady.
• Legacy Character: He's the Dread Pirate Roberts, the latest one specifically.
• Living Legend: As the Dread Pirate Roberts, at least, he's the most feared man around.
• Loving a Shadow: In the book, it's hinted that he only really loves Buttercup for her beauty, and projects an imagined personality onto her since, as the narrator points out several times, he always gets annoyed and starts sniping at her whenever they actually talk in person. At the end, the Lemony Narrator "guesses" that once Buttercup's looks start to go, he'll eventually realize that her personality is such that he feels she isn't worth all the trouble he's gone through to get her. In the film, by contrast, he puts her through a Secret Test of Character to see if she's still the woman he fell in love with/genuinely loved him.
• Master of All: He faces a master swordsman, strongman, and trickster, and beats them all.
• Master Swordsman: Can fight Montoya to a standstill.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Dread Pirate Roberts.
• Nerves of Steel: Absolutely nothing phases him. He takes on the most dangerous challenges with almost superhuman equanimity. Subverted with Rugen's Pain Machine, which is enough to break him on the lowest setting (but can only mostly kill him on the highest).
• Only Mostly Dead: The Trope Namer! In his case, it was because he hadn't been dead for very long.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Westley <-> Dread Pirate Roberts. It's amazing Buttercup takes so long to realize it. It also qualifies as Clark Kenting, although the book depicts him wearing a more complete disguise. Also, Buttercup had no reason to expect Westley to be alive, so she wasn't looking for him.
• Passing the Torch: In the film, Westley asks Inigo if he's ever considered piracy, implying that he will pass on the title of Dread Pirate Roberts to be with Buttercup.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: It is curious that out of Vizzini's trio, the only one he actively decided to kill (Vizzini himself) happened to be the only genuinely evil one of the three (holding a knife to his true love's neck certainly didn't help Vizzini's odds of survival).
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Mostly due to the reputation of the Dread Pirate Roberts, when merchants realize he is approaching, they give up immediately, sparing Westley from the fight.
• Pretty Boy: Oh yes. With his handsome facial features, beautiful blond hair, and big blue eyes, it's no wonder why Buttercup became attracted to him.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: As he puts it:
  "Drop. Your. Sword."
• Resurrection Sickness: Westley is very weak after taking the Miracle Pill.
• Secret Test of Character: Pulls on Buttercup by riling her up as the Dread Pirate Roberts, testing if she really did love him, or turned out to be a Gold Digger. When she finally pulls a Shut Up, Hannibal! and kicks off a cliff, he responds with the classic, "As you wish."
• Scheherezade Gambit: His relationship with the previous Dread Pirate Roberts.
• The Scream: He screams very loudly while in Count Rugen's Machine. Inigo and Fezzik find him because of it.
• Secret Test: The Man in Black doesn't reveal his true identity to Buttercup after he rescues her in hopes of finding out whether she still loves him.
• Something Only They Would Say: "As you wish," meaning "I love you." Former Trope Namer.
• Take No Prisoners: The Dread Pirate Roberts is known for leaving no survivors.
• To the Pain: Trope Namer:
  Westley: To the pain means that the first thing you lose will be your feet below the ankles. Then your hands at the wrists, next your nose… The next thing you lose will be your left eye, followed by your right… Your ears you keep, and I'll tell you why: so that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish; every babe that weeps at your approach; every woman who cries out, "Dear God! What is that thing?" will echo in your perfect ears. That is what "to the pain" means; it means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery, forever.
• Unable to Support a Wife: Why Westley went to seek his fortune.
• Well-Trained, but Inexperienced: In the book, Inigo notes that Westley is a tremendous fighter when the two are in the middle of open ground, but is tripped up when Inigo lures him over to obstacles like large rocks and trees, where Inigo is able to briefly take the upper hand. This dovetails with their back stories, as Westley was extremely well trained by the Dread Pirate Roberts and his crew... but he was trained to fight aboard a ship and all his fighting experience has taken place about boats, so he has no training or practical experience dealing with natural land obstacles likes trees or boulders. By contrast, Inigo is not only well-trained, but has been working as a mercenary with Vizzini and Fezzik, fighting to the death in all sorts of situations and places.
• Wham Line: "As you wish" while falling down the hillside.
• Worthy Opponent: Inigo. The feeling is mutual, and the two are incredibly amicable with one another once Westley reaches the top of the cliff. They become allies almost instantly once Vizzini is dead.
• You Fight Like a Cow: The famous Inigo/Westley duel, but with compliments and discussion of swordfighting tactics instead of insults. (In most DVD editions, that chapter is titled "The Chatty Duelists.")

Buttercup

Buttercup

Portrayed by: Robin Wright

A beautiful girl who is selected to marry the prince. She is adored by the people and is willing to go through with the marriage, but is kidnapped at the start of the story.

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• Adaptational Intelligence: The book portrays Buttercup as a comic Brainless Beauty, not even knowing that bathing is something a person might do to impress a love interest (or in general). Her movie counterpart, while not quite a genius, is able to instantly Spot the Thread in Humperdinck's lie about sending out his four fastest ships.
• Arranged Marriage: To Prince Humperdinck, though it's one he arranges himself. She's not happy about it — she doesn't even like him, let alone love him — but he's the crown prince.
• The Big Damn Kiss: "Since the invention of the kiss, there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. The End." Made ironic when the kid insists on skipping or editing all the kissy stuff at first but starts enjoying it by the end.
• Catapult Nightmare: In the movie, after she's heckled by the Ancient Booer.
• Damsel in Distress: Zig-zags between this and Damsel out of Distress. While she's especially useless in the fight with the ROUS (C'mon, swing that branch, don't just jab with it like a pool cue! Or pick up Westley's sword, or something), she makes a pretty good effort to escape from Vizzini, Fezzik, and Inigo that only fails because of the Shrieking Eels (sharks, in the book), and ends up kicking the Man in Black down a rather steep ravine - though in the latter case, he was Westley and just putting her through a Secret Test of Character, so when he responded with a hilarious dopplering, "Asss! Yoooou! Wisssssssh!", she throws herself down after him.
• Damsel out of Distress: As noted above, she makes a pretty good stab at it for someone with no combat skills, weapons, or particular Guile Hero skills.
• Decoy Protagonist: At first it appears that she’s the focus of the story, being the titular Princess Bride. However, by the second act it becomes clear that Westley is the main character.
• Dreaming the Truth: Or rather, dreaming the truth of her guilty conscience via the Ancient Booer.
• Dumbass Has a Point: Less so in the film, because she's hinted to be a bit smarter, but even the considerably dimmer book version of Buttercup has her moments, like when she reasons to herself that while it's not right to marry someone she doesn't love, it's not wrong either, since it's not hurting anyone (that she knows of) and it's not like she has anything else to live for while she waits to die to rejoin Westley anyway. She also tells Vizzini that his brilliant plan to use his blood to whip the sharks into a frenzy wasn't exactly hard to come up with.
• Dumb Blonde: Her hair is golden as the sun, but she's not exactly the brightest bulb in the box - though she's actually rather smarter than she appears. Exaggerated in the book.
• Fairytale Wedding Dress: The wedding dress she wears in the third act, as she's about to marry Prince Humperdinck.
• Giver of Lame Names: In the book, she names her horse "Horse," and calls her parents' farm boy "Farm Boy."
• Green-Eyed Epiphany: In the book, the reason she realizes her love for Westley is because the Countess Rugen has the visible hots for him.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blonde hair, and a pretty decent person.
• Hidden Depths: She's sometimes hilariously unobservant (see her missing that Westley is the Dread Pirate Roberts - though to be fair, she thought Westley was dead and he was intentionally acting nothing like the Westley she remembered), but she is actually smarter and more courageous than she appears, shown particularly well in her speeches to Humperdinck.
• Ice Queen: She flip-flops between this and Defrosting Ice Queen throughout the book: In the beginning, she was an Ice Queen, then defrosts after she realizes her love for Westley. She freezes up again after Westley's reported demise, then defrosts after realizing that he's still alive.
• Informed Attractiveness: Regarding the movie: Princess Buttercup is considered the "most beautiful woman in the world" in-universe. While Robin Wright is a beautiful woman, anyone trying to portray a World's Most Beautiful Woman would have a big task ahead of them.
• Job Title: Her precise function in the story, at least as far as Humperdinck is concerned, is to be a princess and a bride. And a murder victim.
• Kirk Summation: When Humperdinck reveals that he never sent any ships to find Westley, she points out how his plan will fail because their love will prevail and that he is a Dirty Coward.
• Lady and Knight: After a fashion with Westley, even through she's not really a lady, and he's not really a knight.
• Loved by All: As the prince's fiancée, she is adored by just about everyone except her future husband. This gives Humperdinck the idea to have her murdered as an excuse to go to war with the neighboring country.
• The Mourning After: Played with. While Buttercup is deeply grieved by the news of Westley's "murder" and holds to her vow never to love again, she does get engaged to another man. However, it is an arranged and loveless engagement that the film implies (and the book confirms) she had no real say in.
• Marry for Love: Her eventual fate with Westley. She clearly has no interest whatsoever in marrying for power and status, much less with someone like Humperdinck.
• Neutral Female: Buttercup is hilariously useless, at least until the end (of the book) when she manages to drive off the Brute squad by claiming her (false) authority as the Queen. In the film, she's a little more active, making two reasonable attempts to escape captivity, and cutting Humperdinck down to size with a brutal "The Reason You Suck" Speech - though that has some unfortunate side-effects.
• Oblivious to Love: To Wesley, natch. This is made more obvious in the book, where he has to spell it out for her, whereas in the film, she eventually realized it on her own. Also, in the book, all the boys in the village fell in love with her as she neared that "most beautiful woman in the world" mark, so she was terribly annoyed when all those ridiculous girls in the village accused her of "stealing all the boys."
• Oh, Crap!: When she realises that the Man in Black is Westley, and she's just kicked him off a cliff.
• Only One Name: Like almost every one else, with a notable exception, though Count Rugen is incidentally revealed to have a first name - Tyrone.
• The Pig-Pen: In the book, believe it or not. Before Westley left to seek his fortune across the sea, Buttercup almost never bathed or washed her hair, so an eternal layer of dirt, grime, and stink covered her. When she asks her parents how she can look her best for Westley when he returns, they instantly suggest a bath (something they'd been badgering her about for years). She's officially cured of this habit when she goes through three years of princess training.
• Pressure Point: Fezzik uses a Vulcan Nerve Pinch to subdue her. In the book, Vizzini does it.
• Princess Protagonist: Buttercup gets promoted to princess, because she was born a commoner but Humperdinck wants to marry her. The book explains how she had to attend royalty school for three years, and was given the title of Princess of Hammersmith (which was part of the Florinese property, but nobody ever paid attention to it) because the Prince couldn't marry a commoner.
• The Power of Love: Played with in the wedding scene, where she fully expects that the Power of Love will cause Westley to magically appear in the nick of time to stop her wedding — despite all the walls, gates, and guards — but he doesn't come. She has a Heroic BSoD and is almost Driven to Suicide until Westley reappears.
• Quicksand Sucks: Ends up in "lightning sand" during her trek through the swamp. Fortunately, Westley saves her.
• Rags to Royalty: From a farm girl to almost marrying the prince of the land.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Tells Prince Humperdinck he's a prick in brutal fashion. Unfortunately, all this accomplishes is driving Humperdinck to his Rage Breaking Point, resulting in him going down to Rugen's Pit Of Despair and attempting to painfully kill Westley out of spite.
  Buttercup: You can't hurt me. Westley and I are joined by the bonds of love. And you cannot track that, not with a thousand bloodhounds. And you cannot break it, not with a thousand swords. And when I say you are a coward, that is only because you are the slimiest weakling ever to crawl the earth!
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Buttercup actually gets two moments, one in the book and one in the film.
  • In the book, after Buttercup jumps out of the boat to swim away from her kidnappers, Vizzini threatens to pour his blood into the water to excite the sharks into attacking her. After she's returned, he gloats endlessly about his genius plan. Eventually, she has enough and snaps at him that it doesn't exactly take genius intellect to come up with that plan.
  • Played for Drama in the film, when Buttercup finally has enough of "The Dread Pirate Roberts" heckling her about her Arranged Marriage to Prince Humperdinck.
    Dread Pirate Roberts: Now tell me truly: when you found out [your love] was dead, did you get engaged to your prince in the same hour, or did you wait a whole week out of respect for the dead?
    Buttercup: You mocked me once, never do it again! I DIED THAT DAY! You can die too for all I care.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse:
  • Humperdinck takes interest in her only because she's beautiful and invokes royal privilege to compel her to marry him. And he's only doing that to have as an excuse to go to war with a neighboring country. If she were slightly less beautiful, she would have been much happier.
  • Played with in the book, where he originally had every intention of going through with the marriage, until he came up with the plot to frame Guilder. He specifically says to Count Rugen that he wants a wife who is so insanely beautiful that the whole world will be jealous, which is why Rugen shows him Buttercup in the first place.
• Threatening Shark: In the book, Buttercup tries to swim away from Vizzini, so he excites the sharks. In the movie, it was changed to the shrieking eels.
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Both of Buttercup's parents (who are not in the movie) are hilariously ugly. Lampshaded when it's said they don't know how they managed to produce such a beautiful child.
• Unkempt Beauty: Hinted at in the film's opening. In the book it's much more explicit, as before Westley left, she had not yet gotten into the habit of things like bathing or combing her hair, so her beauty shined through despite (and later because of) her tangled hair and messy appearance.
• World's Most Beautiful Woman: The book even explains how she became the world's most beautiful woman, as well as what happened to the previous titleholders.

Inigo

Inigo Montoya

"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."

Portrayed by: Mandy Patinkin

"Without a word, the six-fingered man slashed him through the heart. I loved my father. So naturally, I challenged his murderer to a duel. I failed. The six-fingered man leave me alive... but he gave me these." [points to scars on cheeks] "I was 11 years old. When I was strong enough, I dedicated my life to the study of fencing. So, the next time we meet, I will not fail. I will go up to the six-fingered man and say, 'Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.'"

A master swordsman working as a mercenary while searching for the six-fingered man who killed his father.

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• The Alcoholic: After being bested by Westley, but he gets better. He was also one before Vizzini found him, having gotten depressed due to lack of worthy opponents and his inability to find Count Rugen.
• And Then What?: After killing Count Rugen at the end of the film, he remarks that, having been in pursuit of revenge for so long, he doesn't know what to do with his life now. Westley proposes that he take up piracy.
• Anti-Villain: Of the Punch-Clock Villain variety. Inigo is an honorable man, who throws the Man in Black a rope to help him up a cliff despite the two being ostensible enemies. Inigo even waits until the Man in Black has got his breath back before starting their fight. When Inigo pulls a Heel–Face Turn, it's hardly a shock; the man didn't have all that far to turn.
• Arch-Enemy: Count Rugen, the six-fingered man and sadistic torturer who killed his father.
• Badass Spaniard: One of the most famous examples and badass in every way. He's a master swordsman, an honorable fighter, and has studied the sword for twenty years. Even the Dread Pirate Roberts acknowledges how good Inigo is in their fight.
• Bad Liar: Parodied and subverted at Miracle Max's, where he tries (badly) to convince Max to work a miracle for cheap with a noble lie, only for Max not to believe him when he tells the truth.
  Inigo: (Unable to keep a straight face) Oh, this is noble, sir. His wife is... crippled. And his children are on the brink of starvation.
  Max: Boy, are you a rotten liar!
  Inigo: (Emphatically) I need him to avenge my father, murdered these past twenty years!
  Max: Your first story was better.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The beauty to Vizzini's brains and Fezzik's brawn, being a dashing Spaniard who is well-versed in the art of fencing.
• Best Served Cold: His revenge against the six-fingered Count Rugen for killing his father.
• Breakout Character: Generally regarded as the most memorable character in the film. His Catchphrase alone became a multi Trope Namer (see below).
• Catchphrase: "Hello!. My Name Is Inigo Montoya. You Killed My Father. Prepare to Die." He in fact named two of those, and was the Trope Codifier for the last one.
• Character Development: In-Universe, Morgenstern gave Inigo a romantic Back Story in Buttercup's Baby. Goldman approved because in The Princess Bride he felt Inigo was a one note You Killed My Father Revenge Machine.
• Cool Sword: A rapier. It was made for Count Rugen.
• Crippling Overspecialization/Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: A lot of life skills like simple arithmetic are lost on Inigo, causing him to act rather brainless at times. The only things he really knows how to do are swordfight and hunt for revenge. Oh, and drink. Though, to be fair, he's very, very good at all three (which is not necessarily a good thing, in the latter case).
• Curbstomp Battle: Against anyone who isn't Westley. Rugen sends four elite swordsmen at him and Inigo kills them with ease. Rugen instantly has no delusions of standing a chance and resorts to fighting dirty...and even then gets demolished by a severely injured Inigo.
• Dashing Hispanic: So dashing, he's the trope picture.
• Determinator: During the duel with Count Rugen, he's stabbed multiple times, including in his arm muscles. After a Heroic Second Wind, not only does he not slow down, he fights even better than before. In the book, he then collapsed during their escape when the adrenaline wore off.
• Dueling Scar: Inigo Montoya has two scars down his cheeks, which is understandable, given his career as a swordfighter. They are later revealed to be a humiliation inflicted upon him at the age of eleven after the first time he tried to avenge his father's murder by Count Rugen.
• Dumb Muscle: Despite appearances, he might be actually dumber than Fezzik.
• Excuse Me, Coming Through!:
  Inigo: Excuse me… excuse me… Fezzik, please?
  Fezzik: EVERYBODY MOVE!
  Crowd: [clears a path]
  Inigo: Thank you.
• Face Death with Dignity: When Westley defeats him, he initially thinks he is going to be killed and becomes very calm — his only request being a quick death. Luckily for him, Westley is even more good and honorable than he is and rebuffs the very idea of doing so.
• Genre Deconstruction: Inigo is basically a walking deconstruction to the classic "live for revenge" plot. He discovers that it's not easy to find a man when all you have to go on is "the man with six fingers," and it takes over twenty years to find his mark. In that time, he discovers there's no money in pursuing revenge, so he has to work for Vizzini to pay the bills. Also, since his entire sense of self-worth is in his sword skills but he worries that they won't be enough to defeat "the man with six fingers," he becomes The Alcoholic to keep his confidence up. Finally, after he manages to kill Rugen he realizes he doesn't know what to do with his life now that it's over.
  Westley: And you've done nothing but study swordplay?
  Inigo: [Beat] Well, pursued more than study lately. You see: I cannot find him. It's been twenty years, and I'm starting to lose confidence. I just work for Vizzini to pay the bills. There's not a lot of money in revenge.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has classic good scars in the parallel slashes Rugen gave him to the face.
• Heel–Face Turn: Though he was never much of a heel to begin with. He turns from a Punch-Clock Villain to a full-fledged hero after Vizzini is out of the picture.
• Heroic Second Wind: He's not going down that easily, Rugen.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: He and Fezzik are more or less inseparable, clearly the best of friends and trusted comrades when times get tough. For example: The relief and immense affection in Inigo's voice when he realizes Fezzik has found him again is palpable.
  "It's you."
• I Am Not Left-Handed: Trope Namer. He uses his left hand to fight against The Man in Black. Backfires when it turns out the man in black isn't left-handed either.
• I Gave My Word: Played straight with Westley on the Cliffs of Insanity. He initially swears that he will get Westley up to the top alive on his honor as a Spaniard. Westley says that's no good, as he's known too many Spaniards. Then he then swears on his father's soul, and Westley believes him. In the book, Westley states he has no idea who Domingo Montoya is, but something in Inigo's tone makes him feel like he's telling the truth.
  Inigo: I could give you my word as a Spaniard.
  Westley: No good. I've known too many Spaniards.
  Inigo: I swear on the soul of my father, Domingo Montoya, you will reach the top alive.
  Westley: Throw me the rope.
• Inconsistent Spelling: "Inigo" is the English variant of the Spanish name "Íñigo," so some fans end up using the latter.
• It's Personal with the Dragon: He's out to exact revenge on Rugen, the man who killed his father, Domingo.
• The Lancer: Serves as second-in-command and contrast to Vizzini at first, then to Westley.
• Master Swordsman: Only Westley can equal him in swordsmanship. The two even compliment each other's skills when they fight, to the point that Westley spares Inigo because it would be like "smashing a stained-glass window".
  • In the books, Inigo is judged to be the only living person who could take the title of "Wizard," the rank above "Master."
• Minion with an F in Evil: He's a Punch-Clock Villain at worst. When ordered by Vizzini to kill the man in black, Inigo tries to do this by… throwing his opponent a rope to scale the cliff, let him catch his breath, and even have a friendly chat before they fight.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: Somehow this thin, lithe fencing master is strong enough to push 500+ pounds of Fezzik in a wheelbarrow while carrying Westley on his back.
• Not What I Signed on For: He was never clued in that the plan involved murdering Buttercup — he just thought they were abducting her. He expresses misgivings at the idea, and later helps rescue her. In the book, he was on board with killing her from the start, but still had misgivings.
• One-Man Army: Humperdinck's four elite guards didn't have a chance the second he appeared.
• Parental Abandonment: His father, Domingo Montoya, was a skilled swordmaker. One day, Count Rugen comes to their nice, Arcadian village demanding a sword for a six-fingered man, offering to pay handsomely for it. Domingo accepts and for a year is either exceedingly happy or horribly depressed over his progress on the sword. When it is finally complete, Rugen comes to claim it, but attempting to pay only a fraction of the previously promised price. Domingo refuses to sell his finest work, crafted over the period of an entire year, for such a large discount, and Rugen kills him for his defiance.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: He ends up killing Rugen, who is The Dragon to Humperdinck and the man responsible for Domingo's death.
• Physical Scars, Psychological Scars: Inigo Montoya has a scar on each cheek given to him by the man who killed his father which serves to strengthen his drive for revenge.
• Precision F-Strike: More of a B-strike, but he delivers one combined with a Pre-Mortem One-Liner when he kills Rugen.
  Inigo: Offer me money.
  Count Rugen: Yes!
  Inigo: Power, too, promise me that.
  Count Rugen: All that I have and more. Please...
  Inigo: Offer me everything I ask for.
  Count Rugen: Anything you want...
  Inigo: I want my father back, you son of a bitch!
• Punch-Clock Villain: He says it in the film — "I just work for Vizzini to pay the bills. Not a lot of money in revenge."
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He's out for Rugen's blood thanks to the latter killing Domingo years before.
• Royal Rapier: While Inigo himself is not of high blood, his weapon of choice is an ornate, bejeweled rapier that was originally made for a count.
• Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: He's really quite an honorable man, though as he puts it, "there's not a lot of money in revenge."
• So What Do We Do Now?: Briefly at the end, he reflects that with Rugen dead, his revenge has been fulfilled and he doesn't really have anything to do with his life now. Westley suggests taking up piracy.
  Inigo: You know… it's very strange. I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it's over, I don't know what to do with the rest of my life.
  Westley: Have you ever considered piracy? You'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts.
• The Slow Walk: During his final match with Rugen. Justified as he is seriously injured at the time.
• Spared by the Adaptation. In-Universe, when Goldman read Morgenstern's notes on Buttercup's Baby, the real Inigo Montoya had been killed by Count Rugen. Morgenstern made the decision to spare Inigo's life because he liked him too much to off him in the story.
• Spexico: His movie incarnation seems to be going for this.
• Survival Mantra: With a knife in his stomach and his guts spilling out, Inigo recites the speech he has been practicing for his sworn enemy for decades, and regains the strength to fight back.
• Training from Hell: The book goes into more detail about how he trained under every fencing master he could find. Inigo's training was entirely self-motivated, as he devoted literally every waking hour to improving his fencing skills. It paid off; his only friend, a master sword-maker like his father, judged that while Inigo could not have beaten the world's last Wizard (the highest rank in fencing), neither could the Wizard have beaten Inigo.
• Tranquil Fury: He alternates between tranquil fury and loud aggression during his fight against Rugen, culminating in a chillingly deadpan delivery of his Pre-Mortem One-Liner.
  Inigo: I want my father back, you son of a bitch.
• Troperiffic: In a movie responsible for creating several tropes, Inigo holds the distinction of being the Trope Namer for five.
• Villainous Breakdown: A minor example — during his duel with Westley, after they both stop holding back, Inigo noticeably starts losing control of the duel. The more Westley outperforms him, the less reserved and more desperate Inigo becomes, until he's frantically slashing inanely in a mad bid to hit him. On the other hand, he calms down immediately once Westley disarms him.
• Wall Slump: During his final match with Rugen, after he's repeatedly injured. This just adds to his badass credentials when he repeatedly parries Rugen's sword in this position, preventing Rugen from finishing him off.
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: Mandy Patinkin is the only actor in the film to attempt to match their character's accent to their origin. His gloriously bad and over-the-top Spanish accent becomes a major part of the film's charm.
• Worf Had the Flu: As a fencing wizard, he should have mopped the floor with Westley. But Westley is canny enough to move the fight to cramped ground where he has the advantage (having learned fencing on a ship).
• Worthy Opponent: Westley. The feeling ends up mutual, and the two are incredibly amicable with one another once Westley reaches the top of the cliff. They become allies almost instantly once Vizzini is dead.
• You Fight Like a Cow: The famous Inigo/Westley duel, but with compliments and discussion of swordfighting tactics instead of insults. (In most DVD editions, that chapter is titled "The Chatty Duelists.")
• You Keep Using That Word: Trope Namer when Vizzini says "Inconceivable!" when Westley evades Vizzini's attempt to make him fall from the Cliffs of Insanity.
  Vizzini: He didn't fall?! Inconceivable!
  Inigo: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Fezzik

Fezzik

"It's not my fault being the biggest and the strongest. I don't even exercise."

Portrayed by: André the Giant

Inigo: That Vizzini, he can fuss.
Fezzik: Fuss, fuss... I think he like to scream at us.
Inigo: Probably, he means no harm.
Fezzik: He's really very short on charm.
Inigo: You have a great gift for rhyme.
Fezzik: Yes, yes, some of the time.

A friendly giant mercenary who has worked with Inigo in the past.

---

• Adaptational Nationality: He's Turkish in the book. In the film, his nationality is never mentioned but he's played by André the Giant, who has a thick French accent.
• Badass Adorable: Yes, the 7-foot tall giant who is twice as big as most men and can singlehandedly beat up crowds of fighters is the kindest and gentlest character in the film.
• Baritone of Strength: André the Giant plays him with a deep, booming voice, which he uses to great effect to intimidate the soldiers in front of the castle.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The brawn to Inigo's beauty and Vizzini's brains, being the muscle of the Sicilian Crowd.
• The Big Guy: He is a large man who uses his strength to kick ass when he needs to.
  Fezzik: It's not my fault I'm the biggest and the strongest. I don't even exercise.
• Black Cloak: Wears one as part of his "Dread Pirate Roberts" disguise.
• Crippling Overspecialization: He's used to fighting multiple people at once, so he loses fast to a single, skilled fighter. He himself lampshades it during the fight with the Man in Black, noting that fighting a single opponent is not only rare for him, but puts him at a distinct disadvantage.
• Dumb Muscle: Subverted. While not intelligent enough to be a Genius Bruiser, Fezzik is pretty witty and resourceful when the situation calls for it.
• Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: He has a tendency to replace his r's with w's.
  • Andre's English was never very strong, and his thick French accent makes it very hard to understand him. The fact that he has an extremely deep voice only adds to it.
• Exactly What I Aimed At: He deliberately throws his first rock ahead of Westley (with enough force to shatter it) for two reasons: 1) to reveal himself and offer the option to Let's Fight Like Gentlemen and 2) to show Westley that he's fast and strong enough with a rock that if he really wanted to kill him, he could easily end the fight in an instant.
• Force and Finesse: He's the Force to Inigo's Finesse. While Inigo is a Master Swordsman, Fezzik relies on his overwhelming strength and size to win.
• Gentle Giant: To his friends, anyway. As strong as he is, he'd prefer not to fight at all.
• Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: While intimidating the soldiers.
  Fezzik: My men are here, I am here, but you [points] will not be here.
• Hates Being Alone: In the book, Fezzik's greatest fear is being left alone. It's how Vizzini bullies him, threatening to leave him alone and back to being hated by everyone.
• Heel–Face Turn: Fezzik was never much of a heel, but after Westley spares him, Fezzik goes the extra mile to help Westley.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: He and Inigo are more or less inseparable, clearly the best of friends and trusted comrades when times get tough.
• Hiding the Handicap: Behind the scenes, André’s gigantism was already causing him major health issues, one of which was crippling back pain if any weight was put on it. As it was impossible to find a stunt double due to his size, the production team had to get creative in certain scenes to work around this. During his fight with Wesley, in the scenes where Wesley hangs onto his back, Cary Elwes was actually standing on a wooden platform out of shot and just draping his arms around André’s neck. Robin Wright recalls in interviews about the film that in shots where he’s carrying her or had to catch her in his arms she had to be on wires as even though she was only 100 pounds as him trying to actually carry her - "it killed him".
• If I Wanted You Dead...: Tells Westley he "didn't have to miss" his sneak attack if he really wanted him dead, and Westley believes him after seeing how that sizeable rock shattered to pieces on impact.
• Just Hit Him: A justified example. He himself points out that he wants to fight Westley in a sportsman-like fashion by wrestling him, rather than simply striking him with a rock or a body-blow and killing him. By the time he actually is trying to seriously hurt Westley, he's already exhausted and in a chokehold.
• Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: Forgoes Vizzini's underhanded ambush tactics for a straight-up wrestling match with Westley. Westley's still grossly outmatched (presumably only winning because Fezzik also didn't bother going for an immediate bear hug to counter his), but it's the thought that counts.
• Minion with an F in Evil: Like Inigo, he's only really working for Vizzini for money. He even decides to not go for the easy kill on Westley, since it's "not very sportsmanlike."
• Nice Guy: Fezzik is a total sweetheart who doesn't want to hurt anyone and is even polite to Vizzini.
• No Sense of Direction: While he's more intelligent than he seems in multiple ways, he's still not very good at finding his way without help, and has a bad habit of making wrong turns.
• Not What I Signed on For: He agreed to help abduct Buttercup, but he wasn't told Vizzini was going to kill her. He's openly dismayed at the idea, and later does a Heel–Face Turn. This only comes up in the film. In the book, he knew what Vizzini's plans for Buttercup were from the start, though he doesn't seem to like it that much.
• One-Man Army: Due to his immense size and strength, Fezzik is actually more adept at fighting multiple foes instead of one. It leads to his downfall when going up against Wesley and only Wesley.
  Max: Go away! I'll call the brute squad!
  Fezzik: I'm on the brute squad...
  Max: (sizing him up) You are the brute squad.
• Parental Abandonment: His backstory is never explained in the movie, but his parents died of a desert plague while they were in Mongolia.
• Plot-Powered Stamina: His arms never get tired.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Like Inigo, he works for Vizzini and that's the only reason he's a bad guy. The book explains that he takes the job because it means he won't be alone anymore.
• Race Lift: In the book, Fezzik is a stereotypical Turk, complete with fez and moustache. In the film, he's played by Frenchman Andre the Giant.
• Rhymes on a Dime: Fezzik is very fond of doing this. According to the book, it's how Fezzik deals with being scared and nervous.
  Vizzini: No more rhymes, now, I mean it!
  Fezzik: Does anybody want a peanut?
• Scarecrow Solution: "The Dread Pirate Roberts" rig that Fezzik wears. The Dread Pirate Roberts is a legendary figure who has been passed from person to person through the years. At the end, Fezzik dresses up and claims to be the "Dwead Piwate Woberts" to scare the castle guards.
• Smarter Than You Look: Fezzik doesn't show it much, but he is able to annoy Vizzini with expert wordplay in his rhymes and is very resourceful. He provides the cloak needed to disguise himself as the Dread Pirate Roberts. Plus he explains Conservation of Ninjutsu to the Man in Black during their fight. He seems to be actually smarter than Inigo, whose obsession with revenge (and alcoholism) often causes him to make dumb decisions (Inigo can barely do basic math).
• Unskilled, but Strong: When it comes to single combat, while he has the size and strength of someone portrayed by Andre The Giant, he's all thumbs against someone skilled in battle. Not so much in the book, where he was a skilled fighter in single combat, but had been so used to fighting against groups that he struggled against Westley.

Vizzini

Vizzini

"Inconceivable!"^note He keeps using that word. We do not think it means what he thinks it means.

Portrayed by: Wallace Shawn

"You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders — the most famous of which is never get involved in a land war in Asia — but only slightly less well-known is this: Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!"

—Vizzini

The diabolical mastermind behind the kidnapping of Princess Buttercup. Still a mercenary, however.

---

• Abled in the Adaptation: He's not a hunchback in the film.
• Adaptational Dumbass: In the novel he is quite cunning, being able to tell what Buttercup was thinking just based on her facial expressions. In the film however, he does little more than boast about how smart he is, so it doesn't show.
• Badass Boast: He's given a rather impressive one in the book in lieu of the Plato Is a Moron example in the movie.
  Man in Black: You are that smart?
  Vizzini: There are no words to contain all my wisdom. I am so cunning, crafty and clever, so filled with deceit, guile and chicanery, such a knave, so shrewd, cagey as well as calculating, as diabolical as I am vulpine, as tricky as I am untrustworthy… well, I told you there were not words invented yet to explain how great my brain is, but let me put it this way: the world is several million years old and several billion people have at one time or another trod upon it, but I, Vizzini the Sicilian, am, speaking with pure candor and modesty, the slickest, sleekest, sliest and wiliest fellow who has yet come down the pike.
  • Plato Is a Moron:
    Vizzini: Let me put it this way — have you ever heard of Plato? Aristotle? Socrates?
    Man in Black: Yes?
    Vizzini: Morons.
• Bald of Evil: He has the least hair among him, Inigo, and Fezzik and is the most evil of all three.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The brains to Inigo's beauty and Fezzik's brawn, being the self-proclaimed schemer of the Sicilian Crowd and its chief (and sole, per his own insistence) strategist.
• Berserk Button: Do not question his intelligence.
• Big Bad Wannabe: He's set up as a decoy Big Bad after he kidnaps Buttercup, but the Man in Black kills him by tricking him into drinking poison about a minute after meeting him to make way for the true Big Bad and the man behind him, Prince Humperdinck.
• Book Dumb: In the book, he states that he has not had the schooling of some, though he is very clever and dangerous.
• Catchphrase: Inconceivable!
• Character Exaggeration: In the book, he's an Insufferable Genius. The film, however, just makes him insufferable without really touching on the whole "genius" part.
• Die Laughing: After being tricked into drinking the poison, Vizzini does manage to get a good laugh before he dies (though, to be honest, he didn't even realize that he'd been Out-Gambitted until he keeled over).
• Disc-One Final Boss: His plot to abduct and murder Buttercup makes him the Big Bad (or at least The Heavy) of the earlier stages of the story. Once he's defeated, his employer and the true Big Bad, Prince Humperdinck, assumes the mantle proper.
• Evil Cripple: In the books, where he has a hunchback and a lame leg.
• Evil Genius: So he keeps claiming, though his plans are never very complicated, and they all go wrong.
• Gave Up Too Soon: While trying to distract the Man in Black with Insane Troll Logic during their battle of wits, he inadvertently talks himself into realizing that the Man in Black might be counting on his exceptional strength to save him in the event he drinks the poison. However, before he can continue that line of thought to its logical conclusion, he gives up and decides to switch to a totally different strategy.
• Green and Mean: He wears all green and is the main villain for the first half of the film.
• I Don't Pay You to Think: Vizzini hired Fezzik for his strength, not his intelligence.
  Vizzini: Am I going mad, or did the word "think" escape your lips? You were not hired for your brains, you hippopotamic land mass!
• I Know You Know I Know: While trying to figure out which goblet contains the poison. Also, the alternative name for this trope is "Wine in Front of Me", named after this scene.
  Vizzini: ...So I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me! But you would have counted on my thinking that, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you!
• Informed Attribute: Despite his constant boasting about his intelligence, he does little to show it. He's easily outwitted by Westley, which costs him his life. This is averted in the novel, where Vizzini is as cunning as he claims to be.
• Insane Troll Logic: Uses this in an attempt to distract the Man In Black during their battle of wits. It probably would have worked, too, if the Man In Black hadn't poisoned both glasses.
• Jerkass: He doesn't think much of Inigo or Fezzik.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: He claims he's smarter than great philosophers like Plato and Socrates. There is no evidence of this besides him running his mouth. Lampshaded by Inigo.
  Vizzini: HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE!
  Inigo: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
• Large Ham: He goes off the deep end when his plans to kill the Man in Black fail.
• Look Behind You: Pulls this on the Man in Black in order to switch the goblets.
• The Napoleon: He's noticeably shorter than both of his hired hitmen.
• No Indoor Voice: Just about every line out of his mouth is shouting as loudly as possible. Considering he's trying to be stealthy and sneak away with a kidnapped maiden, it's clear how much thought he's put into this.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Is mentioned to be Sicilian in the film, but Wallace Shawn uses his natural New York accent.
• Oh, Crap!: He has a moment of shock when he sees the Man in Black pursuing them and when his plans to kill him don't work out well.
• Out-Gambitted: Former Trope Namer. He thinks switching glasses when the Man in Black's back is turned and then waiting until the Man in Black drinks first (thus seemingly confirming the poison was in his own glass the whole time) will net him his victory. Not only does this end up killing him anyways, he never had a chance, since both glasses were poisoned.
  Man In Black: You guessed wrong.
  Vizzini: You only think I guessed wrong. That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Haha, You Fool!! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous is "never get involved in a land war in Asia," but only slightly less well-known is this: Never go in against a Sicilian WHEN DEATH IS ON THE LINE! AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA- (falls over and dies).
• Pet the Dog: A very minor one but it's there. When Westley challenges him to a battle of wits and he accepts, he immediately stops holding his dagger to Buttercup's throat and sheathes it to "fight" fair and square, even if it's because he's smugly arrogant about his intellectual superiority.
• Poisoned Chalice Switcheroo: Not that it does him any good.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Let's face it, he's not nearly as smart as he thinks he is. He's given a bit more respect in the book, though, as Westley fully acknowledges how dangerous he is. Even in the book, however, Buttercup points out his plan with her and the sharks was boneheaded; his only response is a pouty, angry "It worked, didn't it?"
• Smug Snake: All he has is his brain and his loud mouth. He at least puts the latter to good use.
• Telepathy: In the book, Buttercup thinks he has this ability after he finishes her thoughts before she does. However, he admits this isn't true. He merely predicts the truth using logic and wisdom.
• This Cannot Be!: He is fond of the word "inconceivable" to explain things that should not go wrong but inevitably do.
• Too Clever by Half: Ultimately his Fatal Flaw. He's a clever mastermind, but his arrogance sometimes drives him to act like he’s more clever than he actually is.
• Villainous Breakdown: The Man In Black's pursuit sends him right off his rocker, especially in the book, albeit not so very long after the reader meets him in the first place. (That said, he claims that it's been years since someone challenged his mind, and there's a general indication that Vizzini is legitimately used to his plans going off without a hitch). In the film, though he spends much of their encounter egotistically believing himself to have the upper hand, there is a point during his game of I Know You Know I Know (otherwise him trying to get a reaction out of his opponent) when the Man in Black accuses him of stalling, and his anger starts to show as he rants slightly about the defeat of his henchmen. However, he drops it quickly once pressed about it - and dies still thinking he's won.
• War for Fun and Profit: As he puts it to Fezzik, "I hired you to help me start a war. It's a prestigious line of work, with a long and glorious tradition."
• You Fool!: Yells this to the Man In Black during his Evil Gloating when he thinks he's won the game. There certainly was a fool, but it wasn't the Man in Black.

Humperdinck

Prince Humperdinck

"Please consider me as an alternative to suicide."

Portrayed by: Chris Sarandon

"Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work, but I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it; I'm swamped."

—Prince Humperdinck

The prince of the kingdom of Florin, and Buttercup's husband-to-be.

---

• Adaptational Attractiveness: In the book, he's ridiculously muscular, to the point of looking grotesque. Played by the very handsome Chris Sarandon in the movie, though Westley still calls him ugly, both to his face and to Buttercup.
• Adaptational Wimp: In the book, he's a hulking bruiser who kills apes with his bare hands. In the film, he's described as an outstanding tracker, but his physical abilities are never mentioned, and he has a normal build.
• Altar Diplomacy: Attempted in the book — he is offered the princess of Guilder, but he rejects her when he finds out she has no hair. The insult of being offered a bald princess continues to rankle, and he looks for any pretext to go to war with his neighbor.
• Ambiguously Gay: Prince Humperdinck is the only character not swayed by Buttercup's beauty. He just views her as a political tool to convince his country to go to war to avenge her death.
• And Now You Must Marry Me: The Scarpia Ultimatum version.
• Arch-Enemy: Is this to Westley, due to forcing his beloved to marry him.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: He's not even trying to hide his schemes from anyone.
• Bad People Abuse Animals: In the novel, he is introduced by beating an orangutan to death. It's stated he does this regularly.
• Big Bad: He's planning on marrying Buttercup so he can murder her and go to war. He's also behind her kidnapping that lasts a big part of the story.
• The Chessmaster: What he seems to be going for, but he never quite hacks it. His plan is ingenious enough, but he loses control of it rather quickly.
• Dirty Coward: He's such a coward that Westley decides that simply letting him live the rest of his life as one is a far worse punishment than killing him.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Bastard he may be, but he seems genuinely close to his stepmother. While he calls her "Evil Stepmother", it's clearly a term of endearment between them.
• Evil Plan: Prince Humperdinck seeks to marry Princess Buttercup, have her abducted and killed, and use said murder as a Pretext for War.
• The Evil Prince: He's a textbook example, straight out of Machiavelli.
• Fat Bastard: Only in the novel, though he isn't fat so much as he is stocky. The first we see of him in the book, he's wrestling an orangutan and breaking its back.
• Faux Affably Evil: As polite as he is, it just makes him seem like more of a prick.
• Great White Hunter: More prevalent in the book than the movie, but even in the movie, Buttercup notes that "he can track a falcon on a cloudy day." He also deduces the nature and outcome of the duel between Westley and Inigo by examining their footprints (something which wasn't part of his plan and thus he couldn't have already known).
• Jerkass: In the book, he's described that at his best, he's little worse than a man and that at his worst, he's little better than a beast.
• Karma Houdini: As the Grandfather points out halfway through the film, Humperdinck lives. Subverted, as he has to live with the revelation that deep down, he is a Dirty Coward and will always be one. To Humperdinck, a man obsessed with hunting and war, this is a Fate Worse than Death.
• Kingpin in His Gym: In the book, we first see him wrestling with an ape.
• The Man Behind the Man: He hired Vizzini to kidnap and kill Buttercup.
• Pragmatic Villainy: In the novel, when Humperdinck and Count Rugen realize Westley and Buttercup have gone down into the Fire Swamp, Humperdinck admits he won't follow them there because, "if they die, I have no wish to join them".
• Pretext for War: His motivation is to manufacture an excuse to attack and conquer Guilder.
• Prince Charmless: He hasn't the slightest bit of tact or subtlety to him, even to the woman he wants.
• Properly Paranoid: "I believe everything to be a trap. It's the reason I'm still alive."
• Romantic False Lead: Everyone except Count Rugen genuinely believes that he's in love with his bride-to-be.
• Scarily Competent Tracker: He is a genuinely talented tracker. When tracking down Buttercup, he is able to deduce exactly what happened before they got there every step of the way.
  • He manages to deduce some wine had iocaine powder in it, despite it being odorless and tasteless. How he found out is anyone's guess. In the book, it's explained that he deduced as such because it was odorless and tasteless.
  Humperdinck: I know of nothing else that kills so silently.
• Succession Crisis: In the book, the whole thing gets started when Prince Humperdinck learns that his father is dying and he has to marry to produce an heir. He initially proposes to Buttercup just because she's beautiful, before realizing he can use her as an excuse to go to war.
• Villainous Breakdown: When Buttercup gives him a Kirk Summation, he locks her up and then immediately goes and (mostly) kills Westley.
• Villainous Crush: Subverted. While he does acknowledge and is impressed by Buttercup's great beauty, he only plans to marry her so that he can fulfill his dynastic obligations and get an ego boost from having snagged an extremely attractive woman. She never becomes anything other than an object to him that he can use for his own purposes.
• Villainous Friendship: Type I with Count Rugen. Jerks though they might be, they're pretty genuinely friendly, being (possible) family and all.
• Villainous Valor: Subverted. In the book, he has an obsessive need to be a great warrior, but he quickly chickens out of a fight with Westley.
• Wicked Stepmother: Subverted. His stepmother is actually quite nice, it's just that he grew up reading fairytales with wicked stepmothers and as such refers to her as "Evil Stepmother" ("E.S." for short), a term of endearment between them.

Rugen

Count Tyrone Rugen

"You've got an overdeveloped sense of vengeance - it's going to get you into trouble someday."

Portrayed by: Christopher Guest

A six-fingered man who is both Humperdinck's most valuable ally and closest friend.

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• Adaptational Badass: Downplayed, but in the book he's genuinely attempting to bribe Inigo to spare him, and earnestly terrified to the point that he dies of fright before Inigo can properly finish him. The film version of Rugen, meanwhile, is just playing along to get Inigo to drop his guard for a last-ditch attack, which Inigo is more than ready to counter by running him through.
• And Show It to You: At the end of their duel in the book, Inigo starts cutting out his heart alive. Downplayed as terror and blood loss kill him before Inigo can finish.
• Arch-Enemy: Inigo's life has been spent looking for him to exact revenge for killing Inigo's father.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: He's an aristocrat and a bad guy.
• Beard of Evil: In contrast to the clean-shaven Humperdinck, he has a chin strap and a mustache.
• Berserk Button: In the movie, it seems that mentioning his extra finger is a touchy subject, considering that he hits Westley over the head when he mentions it.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Subverted. He doesn't recognize Inigo at first, but soon puts it together that he's the same Spanish kid he once "taught a lesson to". Implicitly, Rugen remembers because it's not his habit to spare the lives of those who cross him.
• Character Death: He gets stabbed to death by Inigo towards the end of the story.
• Combat Pragmatist: He starts to assume a dueling pose when Inigo confronts him — then he runs away and ambushes him with a knife-throw once Inigo finds him. (It doesn't do him any good, in the end.)
• Creepy Monotone: His default way of speaking. Except in his duel with Inigo, especially once he starts losing.
• Deadpan Snarker: Towards the completely oblivious Humperdinck.
• Dies Wide Open: After finally being stabbed to death by Inigo, Rugen's eyes remain open as he collapses.
• Dirty Coward: When Inigo finally confronts him, he at first raises his sword to fight... then turns and runs away. When Inigo catches up, he ambushes him with a throwing knife. This is more justified in the book; the four swordsmen Inigo cut through in seconds are explained to all be master swordsmen in their own right (while in the movie, they seem to just be mooks), so he knows a fair fight would effectively be suicide.
• Disproportionate Retribution: He kills Inigo Montoya's father when he refuses to sell him the sword he commissioned him because he was only going to pay him 1/10th of the price he promised to originally pay.
• The Dragon: He serves as this to Humperdinck.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He is a sadist that actually likes to document the reactions his victims have when they are being tortured by The Machine (this is for posterity), but he was horrified when Humperdinck turned The Machine up to 50 (when even Rugen said he would turn it to 5 at max) when it was Westley's turn. This is then played with in that he quickly calms down and seems to serenely analyze Westley's reaction, though it's noticeably implied that he thought the 50 setting was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that he never wanted inflicted on anyone again.
• Evil Is Petty: Murdered Domingo because he didn't want to pay the full price for the sword.
• Faux Affably Evil: His politeness is to mask his evil and vicious personality.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has evil scars. Inigo eventually repays him for the good scars, too.
• Irony: He ends up scarring Inigo after he kills Domingo. At the end of the film, Inigo repays the favor to Rugen.
• Knight of Cerebus: In an otherwise lighthearted film, Rugen is played dangerously straight. Very little of his behavior is played for laughs and he's responsible for the scarier moments of Wesley's imprisonment.
• Mad Scientist: He has a torture device set up, purely "for science."
• Never Say That Again: To Inigo after the latter repeats his Catch Phrase one too many times.
• Not So Stoic:
  • The first time he raises his voice is when Humperdinck slams the torture suction device to its highest setting.
  Rugen: NOT TO FIFTY!!
  • A non-verbal one when Westley points out his six-fingered hand. His genial demeanor disappears and his smile turns into a scowl as he draws his sword to knock Westley out with the hilt.
• Oh, Crap!: Goes from being smug and in control to scared to death when Inigo effortlessly kills four elite swordsmen without even trying. When Inigo goes into his Heroic Second Wind, Rugen gets progressively bigger ones as Inigo begins to overwhelm him.
• Psycho for Hire: Works part-time as Humperdinck's Torture Technician, a job he takes to with a level of satisfaction that can only be called psychotic.
• Red Right Hand: He has six fingers on one of his hands. Explored when he first commissions Inigo's father, Domingo Montoya, who is quickly fascinated by all the implications of a six-fingered swordsman and what he'd require in his sword.
• Robotic Torture Device: The inventor of The Machine, which he claims can suck years of your life away. To this end, he callously uses Westley as a guinea pig.
• The Sociopath: He has zero empathy for anyone, and expresses nothing but detached, professional interest while torturing people.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: His manner vaguely resembles Hannibal Lecter: he's very polite and never raises his voice, but he's a dangerously insane man who tortures people as a hobby.
• Torture Technician: He's something of a self-taught expert on the subject, inventing several torture devices and even writing a book on the subject.
• Villainous Breakdown: As Inigo refuses to die, and slowly gains the upper hand on Rugen in their duel, Rugen first becomes shaken, then demands that Inigo "Stop saying that!"
• Villains Want Mercy: When Inigo gets him at his mercy, he demands Rugen promise him increasing large requests in exchange for his life, all of which Rugen instantly agrees. Inigo then asks him to bring his father back while killing him.
• Would Hurt a Child: Cut Inigo’s face several times when they met when Inigo was a boy and Rugen killed his father, Domingo. He did leave Inigo alive, however.

Max & Valerie

Miracle Max and his wife Valerie

"Have fun storming the castle!"

Portrayed by: Billy Crystal & Carol Kane

"Sonny, true love is the greatest thing, in the world — except for a nice MLT, mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe—they're so perky, I love that."

—Miracle Max

The Miracle Man who works as a healer, and his wife who makes him actually work.

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• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Valerie starts out ragging on Max about being a failure in the miracle department, but as soon as he agrees to take the job, she gives a little cheer.
• Added Alliterative Appeal: Miracle Max, or Max the Miracle Man.
• Alchemy Is Magic: It's never outright called "alchemy", but he does practice some sort of strange medieval chemistry that works a lot like magic. He's even called a magician.
• Ambiguously Jewish: Described by Billy Crystal (Max) as a pair of "Jewish trolls". Lampshaded in the novel.
  And so here the point is, if Max and Valerie sound Jewish, why shouldn't they? You think a guy named Simon Morgenstern was Irish Catholic? Funny thing — Morgenstern's folks were named Max and Valerie and his father was a doctor.
• Berserk Button: Mentioning Prince Humperdinck's name will drive Max up the wall. Not that his wife cares. Also inverted to convince him to help:
  Max: Wait, wait — I make him better, Humperdinck suffers?
  Inigo: Humiliations galore.
  Max: That is a noble cause! Gimme the sixty-five, I'm on the job!
• Happily Married: Not so obvious in the movie, but the book implies as much — for example, explaining that when Max calls Valerie "witch" it's in fact an Insult of Endearment and part of their whole act.
  Valerie: I'm not a witch! I'm your wife!
• Henpecked Husband: Max.
  Valerie: LIAR! LIAR! LIIAAAAR!^note Get back, witch!
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: Only hinted at in the film, in the book Max waxes poetic internally about how fleeting fame and power is, and how shot his confidence is since Humperdinck fired him. In both cases, revenge on Humperdinck is what motivates Max to help Inigo.
• Large Ham: Both of them chew on the scenery. Valerie announces her status with her first line.
  Valerie: LIAR! LIAR! LIIAAAAR!
• Like an Old Married Couple: Well... they are an old married couple but even still, all their dialog to each other is in this vein.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Max is called a magician, but his only "miracle" (creating the pill that restores Westley's strength) could easily be explained as medicine, albeit at a very advanced level.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: Max calling Inigo a "spic" marks him as this in the book.
• Small Role, Big Impact: They're only in one short scene before the climax, but their help is integral in reviving Westley and ensuring Humperdinck's plan fails.

The Albino

The Albino

"The Pit of Despair! Don't even think...clears throat...don't even think about trying to escape."

Portrayed by: Mel Smith

Rugen's assistant.

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• Artistic License – Biology: Albinos don't have brown eyes.
• Concussions Get You High: A Tap on the Head from Fezzik causes him to flash a goofy smile just before keeling over.
• Even Evil Has Standards: When The Machine is turned up to 50, his normally calm expression becomes one of horror.
• Evil Sounds Raspy: Parodied. He says his first line with an extreme rasp… then he clears his throat and speaks with a clear voice and a slight cockney accent for the rest of the film.
• The Igor: Deformity, creepy but not totally evil, assistant to a mad scientist, check-check-check.
• Punch-Clock Villain: He seems to enjoy (or at least accept) his job in the film a little more, though. In the book he's very timid and feels deeply sorry for Westley, offering to poison him to put him out of his misery.
• The Stoic: He barely says anything in the book at first, responding to most of Westley's questions with a shrug.
• Ultimate Job Security: When he offers poison to Westley to spare him from the pain of the machine in the book, he points out that only he is capable of tending to the animals in the Zoo of Death, and that no harm would come to him for his transgression.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: He's not seen after Fezzik knocks him out. Though we do later hear that that Inigo and Fezzik dumped his wheelbarrow over the top of him after that happened.

Clergyman

The Impressive Clergyman

"Have you the wing?"

Portrayed by: Peter Cook

"Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togevvah too-day. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, dat dweam wifin a dweam…"

—The Impressive Clergyman

The priest who performs the marriage ceremony between Buttercup and Humperdinck.

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• Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: He replaces his rs with ws, in the form of an Exaggerated Trope.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Brought in to carry out the forcible marriage of Buttercup to Humperdinck. It's not clear how much of this he knows about.

Yellin

Yellin

Portrayed by: Malcolm Storry

Head of law enforcement in Florin.

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• All There in the Manual: The novel explains that he's the albino's cousin.
• Blatant Lies:
  Westley: Give us the gate key.
  Yellin: I have no gate key.
  Inigo: Fezzik, tear his arms off.
  Yellin: Oh, you mean this gate key? [holds up gate key]
  • The book couples this with an Ironic Echo of Inigo's "I swear on the soul of my father":
    "I have no key," Yellin replied. "I swear on the grave of my parents; may my mother's soul forever sizzle in torment if I am lying."
• Dirty Coward: Gives up the keys when Inigo tells Fezzik to tear his arms off.
  • Know When to Fold 'Em: This was definitely the smartest thing for him to do.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He's disturbed, as is everyone else, by the screams from the Machine.
• Large and in Charge: Noticeably taller than most other characters.
• Mook Lieutenant: Humperdinck's head of security and doesn't get much more characterization than that.
• Nerves of Steel: He's the only one who stands his ground when Westley, Inigo and Fezzik arrive (Fezzik disguised as the Dread Pirate Roberts). Subverted when he's actually threatened directly and immediately gives up the keys.
• Number Two: Since Rugan spends most of his time in the pit of despair Yellin is the one organizing the soldiers for Humperdink.
• Punch-Clock Villain: He's not evil, despite being technically on Humperdinck's side — he's just doing his job.
• Puppet King: In the book, Humperdinck intends to make him ruler of Guilder after he conquers it, as he can't be in two different places at once, and he knows that Rugen wouldn't take the job, being obsessed as he was with the Machine.
• Resignations Not Accepted: In the book, after Humperdinck warns him of a (nonexistent) plot by Guilder to murder Buttercup, he hands in his resignation after failing to find a shred of evidence. Because Humperdinck still needs Yellin (as shown above in the Puppet King example), he does not accept his resignation and admits the whole thing is just an excuse to conquer Guilder.

Outside The Story

Grandson

The Grandson

Portrayed by: Fred Savage

"They're kissing again. Do we have to read the kissing parts?"'

— The Grandson

A young boy who is staying home sick, and is read a story from his grandfather.

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• He's Just Hiding: Discussed In-Universe.
  Grandson: Wait, what did Fezzik mean, "He's dead?" I mean he didn't mean dead. Westley's only faking, right?
• No Name Given: Though if the book's anything to go by, his name is William Goldman, the book's original author.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: After his grandfather tells him that Buttercup doesn't get eaten by eels, he vehemently denies he was nervous about it.
  Grandfather: She doesn't get eaten by the eel at this time.
  Grandson: What?
  Grandfather: The eel doesn't get her. I thought I'd mention that 'cause you looked a bit worried.
  Grandson: I wasn't worried. ...maybe I was a little bit concerned, but that's not the same thing.

Grandfather

The Grandfather

Portrayed by: Peter Falk

"This is a special book. It was the book my father used to read to me when I was sick, and I used to read it to your father. And today I'm gonna read it to you."

—The Grandpa

The boy's visiting grandfather, who reads him a story to make him feel better while sick.

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• Cool Old Guy: Good at storytelling, friendly, and played by Columbo.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  Grandfather: Yes, yes, you're very smart. Shut up.
• Meaningful Echo: He establishes early in the story that "As you wish" means "I love you." At the end of the film guess what he says to his grandson?
• No Name Given: He's only referred to as the Grandfather.
• The Story Teller: He reads the story to his grandson.

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