A list of characters from The Wild Thornberrys.
open/close all folders
The Thornberrys
Elizabeth "Eliza" Thornberry
Voiced by: Lacey Chabert
Eliza is the younger daughter of the Thornberry family. She is intelligent, true-hearted, fearless, and good-natured, but she can also be very stubborn. Eliza has the power to communicate with wildlife and often employs this skill when embarking on explorations through the wilderness, traveling around the world with her parents, or encountering different wild creatures.
- Aesop Amnesia: There are many episodes where Eliza learns that humans shouldn't interfere with the balance of nature, but the lesson never seems to stick, as she's back to trying to help animals without thinking things through shortly after.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Debbie sees Eliza this way.
- Badass Adorable: She's really cute, but she has the ability to talk to animals and is incredibly protective of her family,
- Bespectacled Cutie: She has large glasses and is very kind-hearted.
- Big Sister Instinct: Inverted. She is incredibly protective of her big sister, Debbie.
- Blind Without 'Em: Eliza's vision is pretty bad without her glasses, as shown many times.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: An example involving both genders; of the three Thornberry children, she's the Redhead to Debbie's Blonde and Donnie's Brunette.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Eliza can never resist helping an animal in trouble, and frequently risks her life to aid them. In a deconstruction of the trope, Eliza's good intentions are often shown to be a problem, as she has a tendency to think she knows better than the cycles of nature that have gone on for centuries. As such, her attempts to solve problems frequently create bigger and more threatening ones.
- Daddy's Girl: Eliza idolizes her father and inherited his love of nature.
- Determinator: Nothing can stop Eliza from protecting/saving an animal in danger, and she'll also go to great lengths to protect her family and human friends.
- Did Not Think This Through: She occasionally tries to help animals without considering the long-term consequences of her actions. In "Cheetahs Never Prosper," her attempts to assist a cheetah cub and his mother during the dry season of Uganda nearly gets her killed; in "Eliza-Cology," she tries to give some finches a leg up on the competition by offering them sewing needles to help them find food and almost dooms all the life on the island to extinction because of the chain reaction in the ecosystem.
- Ditzy Genius: She may be intelligent, but she often doesn't make the best decisions.
- Dude Magnet: Despite her geeky appearance, she never seems to have any trouble attracting boys such as Ben, Dieter, Miguel, and Shane.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: Despite getting her ability from a witch doctor, in "Naimina Enkijio" she refused to believe in the tales of the forest being haunted even though she's scared of what she might find there. Only after finding the Ghost Girl's necklace, in the exact spot where she's making a bed, did she truly believe.
- Friend to All Living Things: A trait inherited from her father.
- Geas: Her ability to talk with animals includes one: if she ever tells another human being about her powers, she'll lose them permanently. She's forced to break the geas in the movie to save Debbie's life, but she gets them back by demonstrating that she doesn't need them to help creatures in need.
- Girliness Upgrade: Eliza lets her hair down and wears more feminine clothing in the later seasons.
- Girlish Pigtails: She has pigtails for the first four seasons.
- Goofy Buckteeth: Eliza is depicted as being fairly geeky: on top of her vast knowledge on animals, she wears glasses, has red hair, Youthful Freckles, and a mouthful of braces. She's also contrasted by her cool, Aloof Big Sister Debbie. When Eliza smiles, you can see that her two front teeth protrude more than the rest.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In the movie, Eliza gives up her powers to save her sister but regains them after saving a herd of elephants without them.
- Idiot Hero: Several episodes have plots that could have been avoided if Eliza hadn't decided to wander off and explore unfamiliar, dangerous territory.
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Since Eliza can't tell any other human being about her ability to talk to animals, she often has to come up with flimsy excuses about how she's able to do impossible things with their help.
- Meaningful Name: Her name may be a Shout-Out to My Fair Lady’s Eliza Doolittle. Her gift to talk to animals also makes her a "Doctor Dolittle" figure.
- Nice Girl: Despite her occasional moments of stubbornness, she's generally very kind-hearted.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In "Eliza-Cology", she nearly destroyed an island's entire ecosystem by giving a group of finches some sewing needles to pick larva out of trees.
- Redheads Are Uncool: Eliza has a few traits of this.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Due to a magic spell from a shaman that allows her to communicate with animals.
- Youthful Freckles: She has freckles and is younger than her sister Debbie.
Darwin
Voiced by: Tom Kane, Rubén Leon (Second voice, Latin America)
Darwin is a chimpanzee who travels with the family and is a loyal companion to Eliza. He tries to be the voice of reason to Eliza, however she rarely takes his advice. Cautious by nature, he is almost always hesitant to follow her plans; in response, she accuses him of cowardice, once calling him a "crybaby in a tank-top" for his hesitancy. He was found by Eliza, and was the first animal she ever talked to.
- Ambiguously Gay: In the sense that he's very effeminate; apart from being briefly flattered when the nubile mate of a chimp leader shows an interest in him, he never shows an attraction to anything save junk food and not getting into trouble.
- Barefoot Cartoon Animal: Was given clothes by Eliza not long after they met, Darwin still doesn’t wear shoes though.
- Big Eater: He's very, very fond of eating human food.
- British Stuffiness: Speaks this way despite not being from Britain.
- Butt-Monkey: Or rather Butt Chimp. He quite often suffers humiliation and misfortunes.
- Cowardly Lion: He always cowers when in a dangerous situation or facing a predator, but if Eliza is ever in danger, he is always ready to protect her. He even once confronted an aggressive wolf and succeeded in scaring it off.
- Deadpan Snarker: Makes sarcastic remarks to whatever animal he or Eliza are talking to.
- Intelligent Primate: He's a chimpanzee who happens to speak in a British accent, enjoys human food and is still more than knowledgeable about his own species' societal rules.
- Meaningful Name: His name is a possible Shout-Out to Charles Darwin. In the show, Eliza names him after her cousin Lenny Darwin (who she says kind of looks like a monkey).
- Non-Human Sidekick: He's a chimpanzee and Eliza's closest friend.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: Frequently. He does it twice in the opening credits alone.
- The Unpronounceable: His real name, which consists of a series of chimp noises. It's technically pronounceable — just a mouthful.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Loves eating a cheese puff-like snack called Cheese Crunchies (later called Cheese Munchies because Cheese Crunchies is a pre-existing real-life name used by Utz Brands for their cheese puffs).
- Undying Loyalty: Will stay by Eliza's side no matter what. Best exemplified in the movie, where he hitches a ride to London with Eliza and later sticks by her even after she's rendered unable to talk to him (and this is after the last thing she said to him in his language was screaming at him to shut up).
Deborah "Debbie" Thornberry
Voiced by: Danielle Harris
Debbie is the eldest child of the Thornberrys, depicted as a typical teenage girl. Captivated with fashion and music, Debbie is portrayed as considerably more self-absorbed than her sister Eliza and tends to whine and complain, particularly over her family's nomadic way of life and her desire to lead an average life. She is often annoyed that Eliza embraces the family's lifestyle, and Eliza is mutually annoyed by Debbie's apathy. However, Debbie cares for her sister deep down.
- Aloof Big Sister: She doesn't normally socialize with Eliza.
- Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: Her shirt doesn't cover her bellybutton and she's more feminine and interested in fashion than her sister.
- Big Sister Instinct: Even though Eliza annoys the crap out of her, you can bet that the minute her sister's in danger, Debbie will always jump in to save her. She even extends this to Donnie.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: An example involving both genders; of the three Thornberry children, she's the Blonde to Donnie's Brunette and Eliza's Redhead.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: She constantly whines whenever things don't go her way.
- Butt-Monkey: Donnie often ruins her things.
- City Mouse: She has difficulty adjusting to her family traveling the world while far from civilization.
- Deadpan Snarker: Sometimes makes sarcastic remarks about her father's idealistic fondness of nature.
- Drives Like Crazy: Whenever she gets behind the wheel of the ComVee, something bad always happens. It's also revealed in "Flood Warning" that her handling of her grandma's Dart ended with it catching fire.
- Hidden Depths: Quite a few episodes (plus the movie) have shown that though Debbie isn't interested in animal life, she's surprisingly good at mingling with the various human cultures she encounters. Also, despite her mild disinterest in the subjects, like the rest of her family, she does have a healthy amount of knowledge on animals and the importance of ecological conservation. In one episode, she even masters the art of archery in a matter of hours (and she wasn't even trying to learn—she just wanted to earn the outfit that the other archers got to wear!).
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Often complains that she would rather have a family that didn’t travel around the world or spend time with wild animals. However, when given the opportunity to attend a prestigious boarding school in one episode, she ultimately chooses to go back to her family—she doesn't love the lifestyle, but she does love them.
- It's All About Me: She often only cares about her own needs and interests.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In spite of her selfishness, she isn't really a bad person. Not only is she occasionally shown to actually care about Eliza and Donnie, but "The Trouble With Darwin" has her having to watch after some orphaned chimpanzee infants because of a misunderstanding and she decides to continue looking after the baby chimps even after the misunderstanding is cleared up. This becomes clearer as the show goes on and Debbie steadily gets more and more humanizing moments.
- Secret-Keeper: She learns about Eliza's ability to talk to animals in the first theatrical film when Eliza is forced to reveal her secret to the film's villains to save her life. After the shaman restores Eliza's power, Debbie is made to keep it a secret under the threat of being turned into a baboon.
- Taught by Experience: Debbie may not share the same intense love of zoology as her family, but constantly traveling and encountering other cultures has left her very knowledgeable about the animal kingdom. She also knows a lot about subjects that relate to them and the places where they live, too.
- Valley Girl: She talks like a classic valley girl.
Donald "Donnie" Thornberry
Voiced by: Flea
Donnie is a feral boy who was raised by orangutans in Borneo and was taken in by the Thornberry family prior to the series. His birth parents were naturalists who loved and protected animals with their hearts. One night, two poachers attacked a pair of orangutans, intending to harm or kill the mother and sell the baby on the black market. Donnie's parents managed to save them, but were killed for interfering.
- Annoying Younger Sibling:
- Is this to Debbie. He almost always bothers her and ruins her stuff.
- He can be this way to Eliza as well. While she has significantly more patience with him, there are times when she gets so frustrated with his antics that she snaps at him.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: An example involving both genders; of the three Thornberry children, he's the Brunette to Debbie's Blonde and Eliza's Redhead. This is justified in that he was adopted, since Nigel has red hair and Marianne has blonde.
- Dead Guy Junior: When he is officially adopted, his middle name is Michael, after his late biological father.
- Extreme Omnivore: Eats anything from food to bugs.
- Goofy Buckteeth: He is a Wild Child that the Thornberries adopted who speaks in excited gibberish, as he Never Learned to Talk, and whose wild and unpredictable antics are the primary source of the show's comedy. He also has buckteeth.
- Happily Adopted: Donnie was taken in at some point before the show began, but he wasn't officially adopted until "The Origin of Donnie".
- Hidden Depths: He's shown, on a few occasions, to be more observant than he appears to be.
- Keet: He has a near-boundless amount of energy, constantly climbing around, tossing things around, and babbling like a loon.
- Motor Mouth: He talks in nothing but rapid-fire gibberish.
- Never Learned to Talk: He only speaks gibberish due to the fact that he was raised by orangutans shortly after his parents were killed by poachers.
- Raised by Wolves: Donnie was raised by a mother orangutan alongside her own offspring for some time after his parents were killed by poachers when they intervened their attempt to poach the orangutan's baby.
- The Unintelligible: He only talks in high-speed gibberish, courtesy of RHCP's Flea. He has been known to occasionally parrot spoken words on occasion.
- Wild Child: He lived in the wild and still remains feral after being taken in by the Thornberrys.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: His default outfit is just a pair of leopard-print shorts.
Sir Nigel Thornberry
Voiced by: Tim Curry, Esteban Garcia (Latin America)
Nigel is the child of Radcliffe and Cordelia Thornberry, an aristocratic British couple. Born in Britain himself, he travels around the world with his own family making wildlife documentaries. He is an expert zoologist, as well as naturalist, traveler and survivalist and is quite caring and logical, though Nigel often otherwise appears absentminded or naïve.
- Action Dad: He hosts a nature show and is prepared to defend himself from even the most deadly of predators.
- Berserk Button: Poaching and cruelty to animals are big ones.
- Bumbling Dad: He's often oblivious of his daughters' concerns.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: For all his numerous eccentricities, Nigel has a near encyclopedic knowledge of animals.
- Character Catchphrase: Smashing!
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Don’t let his eccentricity and goofiness fool you; Nigel is perhaps the biggest badass on the show and accomplishes some amazing feats, especially when his family is in trouble.
- False Teeth Tomfoolery: Implied. Nigel has five fake teeth according to Debbie.
- Fearless Fool: Nigel goes after some seriously dangerous animals, always with an excited grin on his face. In one episode he admits that he does often get scared but hides it well.
- Friend to All Children: He gets along rather well with the Rugrats gang in Rugrats Go Wild!.
- Friend to All Living Things: Well he does host a nature show. He shows almost nothing but fascination and admiration towards all the animals he sees.
- Genius Ditz: His expertise is in nature and animals, but he comes off as being a complete moron when compared to other subjects.
- Gonk: His odd appearance has led to him becoming something of a meme.
- Good Parents: As bumbling as he often is, he's still a very loving dad to both his daughters and Donnie.
- Goofy Buckteeth: He has huge buckteeth, and he's a Bumbling Dad who's an utter goof whenever he's not dealing with his field of expertise (which is animals).
- Green-Eyed Monster: In one episode he becomes dismayed to learn that Marianne used to have a romance with the zoologist the family was on their way to meet. He seems to have gotten over this by the time he actually meets the man however.
- Happily Married: He and Marianne are happy together. In Rugrats Go Wild!, he even misinterprets his wife suggesting they split up as a request for divorce and incredulously states that he thought they were happy together.
- Nice Guy: Indeed. He genuinely loves the world around him and also adores his family.
- Papa Wolf: He is fiercely protective of his daughters, and them being in danger prompts his most serious moments.
- Stiff Upper Lip: When he's stung by a poisonous rockfish with no medical facilities or his family's own antitoxin kit nearby, he maintains a calm and brave countenance for Eliza, and is ready to Face Death with Dignity when it looks like she's failed to retrieve the cure.
- Strong Family Resemblance: He looks almost identical to his father; they're even both voiced by Tim Curry.
- Trademark Favorite Food: He has a love of kippers, much to everyone else’s disgust.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: While Marianne's design is still stylized, she is still conventionally attractive. Nigel on the other hand has a more Gonk design.
Marianne Hunter Thornberry
Voiced by: Jodi Carlisle
Marianne is Nigel's wife, daughter of Frank and Sophie Hunter. She operates the film camera and edits their nature show. Marianne is a strong woman, often the voice of reason, and sometimes loses patience with Nigel. She is usually the one to take on disciplinary duties, trying to keep the girls out of trouble and finish their homework.
- Action Mom: At times, she can be just as adventurous as her husband.
- Directionless Driver: Marianne always drives, and she never asks for directions even when her sense of direction isn't exactly the best (though it usually works out).
- Education Mama: She tries to make sure her kids get a good education while traveling the world and makes sure they always do their homework. Though she always steps in to help her daughters if they are ever having trouble with their schoolwork. She also puts Debbie in charge of teaching Donnie proper English.
- Happily Married: It's made clear several times throughout the series that she loves her husband and the feeling is mutual.
- Hartman Hips: She has very pronounced hips.
- Mama Bear: Very protective of her children. One episode had Marianne facing her fear of sharks to rescue Debbie who was trapped in the ocean about to be eaten by several sharks.
- Noodle Incident: Debbie mentions that Marianne was kicked off her field hockey team in high school, though she doesn't explain how.
- Only Sane Woman: Is the more sensible one when working with her husband. Every once in a while though this is inverted, usually when Marianne is flustered or infuriated by something to such a degree Nigel needs to be the voice of reason.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: While Marianne's design is still stylized, she is still conventionally attractive. Nigel on the other hand has a more Gonk design.
Thornberrys Extended Family
Sophie Hunter
Voiced by: Betty White
Marianne's mother. A fussy but kindly old woman who drops in on occasion.- Cool Old Lady: One episode reveals that she took a wilderness survival class and demonstrates by climbing a tall tree. She later scares off a tiger by shaking a can of pennies.
- Doting Grandparent: She often mails her grandchildren gifts and fusses over them when she visits.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Greatly resembles her voice actress.
- Neat Freak: Is heavily focused on cleanliness and order, which makes her a bit of a terror to work with in the often messy environments the Thornberrys go to. More often than not, her care packages contain bars of soap.
- Nice Girl: Her overbearingness aside, she is a very loving mother and grandmother. She notably shows incredible patience when dealing with Donnie, the wildest and dirtiest member of the family.
Frank Hunter
- Voiced by: Ed Asner
- Affectionate Nickname: He often calls Eliza "Bug" and is very close with her.
- Cool Old Guy: Not even having a mild heart attack deters him from climbing Mount Fuji with Eliza.
- Happily Married: To Sophie. In fact, his only appearance in the show is based around their fiftieth anniversary.
- Kindly Vet: He's a vet by trade and did it for decades. It's likely where Marianne got her love for animals.
-
One-Episode Wonder: He only appears in one episode, but he's still an important character. - Scratchy-Voiced Senior: He is voiced by Ed Asner, after all.
Radcliffe Thornberry
Voiced by: Tim Curry
Nigel's father. A former colonel of the Royal Air Force whom Nigel inherited his adventurousness and eccentricity from.- Affectionate Nickname: He calls his wife "Cordie" sometimes.
- Colonel Badass: He's a war veteran, a colonel at that and he retains a lot of his old army skills.Radcliffe: They didn't call me "colonel" for my chicken recipe!
- Cool Old Guy: A jovial and caring old man who loves adventure.
- Friend to All Living Things: Much like Nigel and Eliza, he's a staunch animal lover and is not afraid to stand against those who would harm them (no doubt a trait they inherited from him), such as his neighbor, MacTavish, who hunts foxes on his grounds.
- Happily Married: To Cordelia. They've been together for decades and are still going strong.
- Nice Guy: Radcliffe is a kind, warm, jovial family man who is always ready and willing to help others and have another adventure.
- Opposites Attract: Radcliffe is adventurous, jovial, pleasant and gets along very well with Marianne, which is in stark contrast to his wife, who prefers to stay at home, is rather rude and is always at odds with her daughter-in-law. Despite this, the two remain happily married.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Implied in the movie. While sleeping, he wakes up to the sound of a motor starting and thinks he is in the middle of "the Blitz", until his wife tells him he is dreaming.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Looks like an older version of his son.
Cordelia Thornberry
- Voiced by: Lynn Redgrave
- British Stuffiness: The epitome of this trope; she's essentially if "MOST UNORTHODOX!" was a person.
- Control Freak: She's constantly heckling Marianne's parenting and is always controlling those around her.
- Cool Old Lady: Cordelia may be old and stuffy, but this is also the same woman who's braved the African savannah to find her grandchildren and, considering her age range, is likely a survivor of World War II. There's also the fact that just like her granddaughter, she's not afraid to bend the rules or use her pull to get things done.
- Happily Married: To Radcliffe. They have been married for several decades and are still going strong.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Cordelia is stuffy, snobbish, stern and somewhat abrasive, but she's a good person deep down and sincerely loves her family, especially her grandchildren. And as noted by Nigel, though she is constantly interfering with the affairs of those close to her, it's more because she wants the best for her family and less because of her controlling ways.
- My Beloved Smother: If Nigel's commentary in "Sir Nigel" is anything to go by, his mother's overbearing nature is something that's been prevalent since he was a kid. It might be because Nigel is her only child and so she wanted the absolute best for him, something which he himself believes. She can also be this with her grandchildren, especially Eliza and Donnie.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Cordelia and Marianne don't see eye-to-eye most times.
- Rich Bitch: It seems both she and her husband came from nobility or wealth, but unlike her husband, she's a lot more condescending and abrasive.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: She's very well-connected and has no shortage of high-status friends and associates to help her get what she wants.
Tyler Tucker
Voiced by: Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Eliza and Debbie's cousin, being the son of Marianne's sister Nancy. Becomes a main character for a bit in Season 3, though midway becomes more of a supporting character.- Alliterative Name: Tyler Tucker.
- Character Development: Matures quite a bit overtime and becomes a much humbler and kinder boy.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A smug and reckless kid with a penchant for mischief. He will still risk his life when his family is in danger and apologizes when he goes too far.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Fancies himself an animal expert like Eliza. While he does know some of his stuff, it is often shown he isn't quite as informed or clever as he thinks he is.
Poachers
Kip O'Donnell and Neil Biederman
Voiced by: Keith Szarabajka (Kip), Michael Jeter, Jerry Sroka (Biederman)
A pair of poachers who antagonized the Thornberrys in the original pilot and some of the show's earlier episodes.
- Artificial Limbs: Kip wears a peg-leg on his left one.
- Bad Boss: Kip often berates or hits Biederman for his incompetence.
- Big Bad: The fact that they were featured in the original pilot and are shown to have personal grudges against the Thornberrys suggests that they were originally intended to be the series' main villains. Unfortunately, they stopped appearing after the second season.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: After season two, Kip and Biederman just disappeared from the show.
- Evil Duo: Two villains who always work together.
- Evil Sounds Raspy: Kip has a very raspy voice.
- Fat and Skinny: Kip is skinny and Biederman is fat.
- First-Name Basis: Kip O'Donnell is frequently addressed as just Kip.
- Last-Name Basis: Neil Biederman's first name is rarely mentioned.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Biederman bears a more than passing resemblance to Joe Pesci.
- Number Two for Brains: Biederman tends to do the grunt work for Kip and is a complete moron.
- Sinister Shades: They both wear pretty cool looking red tinted sunglasses.
- Too Dumb to Live: Biederman once casually flicked a lit match aside...right into the oil spill that he and Kip accidentally caused.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Eliza may be a nuisance to them, but they opt to detain her whenever they have her at their mercy. They may hurt and kill animals, but would rather not get in trouble with the law for hurting and killing humans too.
- Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: Biederman's demeanor is much goofier than his colder, more serious partner.
Sloan and Bree Blackburn
Voiced by: Rupert Everett (Sloan), Marisa Tomei (Bree)
A couple who appear in the movie. They initially appear as a pair of caring animal-loving zoologists, but they are soon revealed to be evil poachers who aim to kill a huge herd of elephants so they can sell off their ivory.
- Alliterative Name: Bree Blackburn.
- Ax-Crazy: Don't let those smiles in the image fool you. They may seem kind and caring at first, but make no mistake, they are really sadistic poachers.
- Beard of Evil: Sloan has a goatee and he's quite the piece of work.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: They are both the main antagonists of the movie.
- Evil Brit: Sloan is a nasty piece of work and has a British accent, courtesy of Rupert Everett.
- Evil Costume Switch: After revealing their true colors they change into outfits that indicate they're really heartless poachers.
- Faux Affably Evil: Both come across this way, especially Sloan, feigning kindness while being quite willing to murder if they don't get their way.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: With a name like Blackburn, do you really think they're trustworthy?
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: Bree seems to think this way. She apparently disagreed with Sloan cutting the rope ladder as Eliza was climbing it, presumably to prevent her from further interfering. She also suggests that Sloan simply throw Debbie off a cliff rather than use her to get information out of Eliza.
- Put on a Prison Bus: At the end of the movie, the Blackburns are both arrested after being cornered and scared into submission by the elephants they were planning to hunt. Bree can be heard struggling with the police and claiming that she and Sloan were only trying to help the elephants.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Their screentime is negligible, but they successfully present the biggest challenge the Thornberrys ever faced, and even succeeded in taking away Eliza's powers for a time and are the direct reason for Debbie being Eliza's Secret-Keeper in later seasons.
- Spotting the Thread: Sloan is scarily good at this; noting several times that Eliza has information no person could have, and successfully using it to get her to reveal her power.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Easily the most reprehensible characters in the series. Other human antagonists, prior to this, had been bungling and ineffectual at absolute worst. There is nothing about the Blackburns played for laughs; they're cold-blooded poachers who are fully and eagerly willing to resort to murder.Sloan: Tell me, or she [Debbie] goes over the edge!Bree: Just get rid of her, Sloan!
- Would Hurt a Child: Sloan throws Eliza into the river after she foils his attempt to have the elephants stampede into an electric fence. Bree is also in favor of simply murdering Debbie (and likely Eliza) on the spot.
Other Humans
Shaman Mnyambo
Voiced by: Kevin Michael Richardson
The mysterious shaman who gave Eliza her ability to speak to animals.- Be Careful What You Wish For: Grants Eliza's desire to speak to animals, but in the process removes her ability to communicate with humans.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Eliza's kindness to him is what convinced him to give her the gift to talk to animals. Later it becomes "because you were kind to others", after seeing Eliza risk her life to save Darwin, it convinced Mnyambo to cast a harder spell so that Eliza can speak to both animals and people.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Appears in the intro for every episode, but does not make a proper appearance until much later.
- Equivalent Exchange: He explains this is the reason his first spell makes Eliza talk to animals but makes her unable to talk to humans. He does know a spell that lets her do both but it is very difficult to cast, it takes him being touched by Eliza and Darwin's friendship to convince him to use that spell.
- Forced Transformation: Was turned into a warthog by a more powerful shaman of his tribe after Mnyambo ate his prized sheep. He would turn back to normal if someone showed him kindness, which turned out to be Eliza.
- Geas: How his second spell works, Eliza can talk to animals but if any humans find out the spell will fade. His third spell after Debbie finds out about Eliza's gift also works like this; if Debbie tells anyone about Eliza's ability to talk to animals, Debbie will be turned into an animal.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can be very gruff and is a bit of a hedonist, but is still quite kind, grateful, and a bit wise.
- You Don't Look Like You: In The Movie, he has a completely different appearance from how he looks in the opening and the episode "Gift of Gab".
Shane G.
Voiced by: Christopher Masterson
A teenage pop star who travels with the Thornberrys for a bit to promote wildlife conservation amongst younger generations.- Character Development: Much like Tyler, he becomes less self-centered and more considerate as time goes on.
- Idiot Ball: Completely disregards Eliza's warnings and ends up angering a mother grizzly bear and immediately afterwards a wolverine. Instead of worrying about the fact that he's endangered everyone, he wants everyone to film it because it will "help his image" as a singer.
- Satellite Love Interest: While he does get some development, he is still mainly there just to add some romantic drama for Eliza.
- Ship Tease: Eliza develops a big crush on him and it is eventually shown he returns those feelings.
