This is a Character Sheet for the Pixar film Up.
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Carl Fredricksen
"So long, boys! I'll send you a postcard from Paradise Falls!"
Voiced by: Jeremy Leary (child); Ed Asner Foreign VA's
Carl Fredricksen (born 1931) is the protagonist. He is a cranky and widowed 78-year-old retired balloon salesman. He is also appears at the end of Dug's Special Mission, as is the co-lead in Dug Days and Carl's Date.
- Adrenaline Makeover: Becomes more rugged-looking after the climax.
- All-Loving Hero: Downplayed. After Carl finally understands Ellie's last words in her adventure book, he becomes an all-round pleasant guy to Russell and Dug except for Muntz after realizing his idol had gone insane. However, as the latter falls to his demise thanks to Carl's clever actions, he gasps in horror at the sight.
- Amazon Chaser: As a child, Carl fell for Ellie's fiery spirit.
- Big "NO!": He yells one in the theater when he realizes that Muntz has been called a fraud.
- Broken Pedestal: He really did respect Charles Muntz before his reveal.
- Character Development: Throughout his journey, Carl starts to see that he needs to move on from Ellie's death and live his life.
- Childhood Friend Romance: With Ellie — They met as children in the intro and the following Time Skip shows them getting married.
- Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: His appearance is based off that of Spencer Tracy.
- Cool Old Guy: Carl becomes more warm and fun at the ending.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Downplayed. Carl's childhood and adulthood were not troubled whatsoever, especially since he had Ellie. The truly bad parts was Ellie's miscarriage and Carl trying to make their childhood promise come true... only for his beloved wife to fall and die sometime later. And after his wife's death, Carl became a surly and lonely man.
- Deadpan Snarker: Carl is very sarcastic and deadpan in his delivery as well.
- Death Seeker: It's strongly implied that this was what motivated Carl to finally go to Paradise Falls, at least at first. After all, with Ellie dead and having no family left to speak of, what better way to go out in style than to do the one thing he was still able to pull off? Even if he knows that it'd likely be a one-way trip that could go terribly wrong.
- Defrosting Ice King: His sour and grumpy exterior is softened by his experiences in Paradise Falls and the friendships he eventually forms with the others.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: He has to care for a rambunctious scout and an endangered bird plus evade his former childhood hero to get his house to Paradise Falls.
- Expy: Carl was supposedly modeled on Spencer Tracy's appearance in the film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, right down to the black rectangular glasses.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Carl qualifies, given he outfitted his house with shower curtain sails and a steering system. Carl retrofitted his entire house into an airship in less than one night. He's better than MacGyver!
- Grumpy Old Man: Carl can be quite impolite and sarcastic. This is mostly due to the death of his wife.
- Happily Married: To Ellie — Even if they had trouble making a family and fulfilling their dream to go to South America since by the time they were able to afford the trip Ellie soon passed away. This is demonstrated at the end, when Carl looks through Ellie's Adventure Book one last time to find the message "Thanks for the adventure! Now go have a new one."
- Heroic BSoD: When Muntz burns the house to keep Carl busy while he takes Kevin. And really, he technically has been in a prolonged one since Ellie's death. At least up till the end.
- Hopeless with Tech: Implied in the credits from the way Carl is pictured holding up a computer mouse by the cord, looking baffled by it.
- I Was Quite a Looker: Like his wife, Carl was quite attractive as a young man.
- Intergenerational Friendship: He (an elderly man) forms this with Russell (a hyperactive child) eventually.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Stubborn and curmudgeonly, but he's also loyal and, in is own way, caring.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: The Feminine Boy to Ellie's Masculine Girl, especially as children — she was more rambunctious while he was more quiet.
- Meaningful Name: Carl means "strong man". Considering the physical and emotional obstacles Carl goes through in this movie, it's definitely fitting.
- Miniature Senior Citizens: He's roughly the same size as Russell.
- The Mourning After: When the film starts, he's a heartbreaking example. He's deep in grief, and (since Ellie was the social one of their lifelong pair) doesn't even understand that he needs to reach out for help in overcoming it.
- Moving Beyond Bereavement: Carl's character arc involves him moving on from the death of his wife, Ellie. He starts out as a loner who wants to go to Paradise Falls and stay there at all costs to honor his wife's memory; however, after some bonding with Russell and Kevin, he eventually finds Ellie's photo book of their many moments shared in their life which has her writing out that she was satisfied with how their life went. This ultimately helps him finally move on from her death and race to save both Russell and Kevin from Charles Muntz.
- My Greatest Failure: Failing to fulfill Ellie's dream to go to Paradise Falls like she always wanted is his greatest regret, to the point where he can't even bear to look at the back half of her Adventure Book no matter how many times he opens it. It's only when he sees how it's filled with photos of the happy life she lived with him that he is finally able to start moving on from her death.
- Oh, Crap!: He gets this when he sees the flight caps of victims that Muntz killed, and he realizes that Muntz has gone insane.
- Papa Wolf: He gains a protective streak for Russell. The climax of the movie has him risk his life going back to Muntz’s zeppelin to save Russell and Kevin. When Russell offers his help to Carl again, Carl argues with him and says he wants Russell to be safe.
- Parental Substitute: Acts as a father figure to Russell.
- Perpetual Frowner: "Grumpy" becomes his default facial expression after Ellie's death, and seemingly the only things he finds satisfaction in are taking the house to Paradise Falls and meeting Muntz. Thankfully, he grows out of this by the film's end.
- The Quiet One: Carl was a really quiet kid. He barely makes a sound during the flashback.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The reserved blue to both Ellie and Russell's more impulsive reds.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The mellow Savvy Guy to Ellie's spunky Energetic Girl.
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: He insults the man from the company who wants to destroy his house.
- Shrinking Violet: As a kid, he's really shy and doesn't utter a single word.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Carl wears squared shaped glasses and is a Gadgeteer Genius who converts his house into a fully functional airship using thousands of balloons.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: When they were kids, he was the Tiny Guy to Ellie's Huge Girl.
- Took a Level in Badass: Carl saved his friends just by using a rope and a piece of chocolate.
- Took a Level in Cheerfulness: His adventure with Russell mellows him out from the cantankerous, grumpy man he was after Ellie's death into a much happier and accepting elderly man who accepts Russell as his grandson figure, Dug and Kevin as his pets.
- Took a Level in Idealism: He becomes reinvigorated with life after reading Ellie's last written message in her notebook.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: A completely justifiable example. In the opening, he's almost always shown smiling and laughing and seems to be quite good with the children he sells balloons to, while in the present day he's bitter and sarcastic towards Russell. All of the flashback scenes occurred while Ellie was still alive.
- Took a Level in Kindness: In the present time, he's rude, lonely and bitter after Ellie's death but meeting Russell, Kevin and Dug after arriving in Paradise Falls, meeting his idol, Muntz who's now a cruel, obsessive and egotistical person who wants Kevin to restore his fame and reading Ellie's last message in her notebook prompts him to become nicer and willing to save Russell and Kevin from Muntz when the latter abducted them.
- Tragic Keepsake: The bottlecap "badge", Ellie's Adventure Book, her photo, the house itself... and the airport passes Carl was going to surprise her with just before her final hours. Really, a huge part of the plot is based on this trope and Carl's need to let go of them.
- Unlikely Hero: No one expected a cantankerous septuagenarian who keeps to himself to be The Hero.
- Uptight Loves Wild: While not stuffy as a kid, his slightly more reserved demeanor stands out in contrast with Ellie's more wild behavior. And Carl is smitten almost instantly.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Carl was much more energetic and accepting of people as a young boy. To be fair, the opening makes it clear that Carl was a pretty sweet guy throughout his life up until Ellie died.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Russell calls him out for letting Muntz take Kevin while he tried to save the house instead.
- When Elders Attack:
- He uses his cane to fight off another elder.
- He also gets into an altercation early in the film with some of the builders, leading him to striking one of them with his cane hard enough to draw blood (although that one backfires as it gets him court ordered to a retirement home).
Ellie Fredricksen
"You and me, we're in a club now."
Voiced by: Elie Docter (child)
Ellie Fredricksen is a character who, despite being dead before the events depicted, plays a significant role in the movie. She was the wife of Carl Fredricksen. Ellie only has speech during her childhood scenes, as she is voiced by Elie Docter (as a child), the director's daughter, but doesn't speak for the rest of her appearances during her life sequence.
- Arc Words: "Thanks for the adventure! Now make a new one!"
- Break the Cutie: When the doctor tells her she can't have children, Ellie breaks down crying in her hands.
- Character Development: As a kid, Ellie was a spirited and impulsive risk-taker, wanting the impossible to happen. She made Carl promise to take her to Paradise Falls, even though they're kids with no money to travel. As an adult, Ellie became more proactive in taking charge of her life and willing to accept the mundane aspects: she marries Carl, helps renovate their dream house, and pursues a career as a zookeeper. Even though Carl and she planned to go to Paradise Falls, it was more of an in-joke at that point since she happily used their savings for mundane emergencies. At some point, Ellie started filling her scrapbook with pictures of her and Carl after their wedding, showing that she considered their marriage the greatest adventure of all. When she was giving it to Carl while dying, she was trying to reassure him that he didn't need to take her to Paradise Falls.
- Childhood Friend Romance: With Carl — They met as children in the intro and the following Time Skip shows them getting married.
- Childish Tooth Gap: She had one as a young girl.
- Color Motif: Pink.
- Fiery Redhead: Ellie had the classic red hair and was always a spunky and energetic person.
- Genki Girl: Much more so as a child, though she was still lively and spirited even as an adult. And tellingly, she remained somewhat youthful even as she aged.
- Glasses of Aging: While Carl has worn glasses since childhood, Ellie in the "Married Life" sequence isn't seen wearing glasses until the Time-Passes Montage to her elderly years.
- Happily Married: To Carl — Even if they had trouble making a family and fulfilling their dream to go to South America since by the time they were able to afford the trip Ellie soon passed away. This is demonstrated at the end, when Carl looks through Ellie's Adventure Book one last time to find the message "Thanks for the adventure! Now go have a new one."
- I Was Quite a Looker: Her looks quietly faded as times go by.
- Law of Inverse Fertility: It's heavily implied that she miscarried, thus denying Carl and Ellie the child they so desired.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Her death transformed Carl into a sullen, angry, grumpy man who refuses to interact with others.
- The Lost Lenore: To Carl. It is made worse by the fact that she was never able to have children, so her death leaves Carl completely alone. Carl's refusal to leave his house is partially because it's the only way he can keep Ellie's spirit alive.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: The Masculine Girl to Carl's Feminine Boy, especially as children — she was more rambunctious while he was more quiet.
- Meaningful Name: Ellie means "shining light". When Carl is alone in bed and later by the table, the sun is shining where Ellie used to be, literally symbolizing how the "light" of his life is gone.
- Messy Hair: When meeting Carl as a little girl, she takes off her helmet to reveal a wild poof of bright red hair.
- Motor Mouth: As a kid, she was quite the fast talker and it served as a contrast with Carl.
- Nice Girl: A loving and sweet person since childhood.
- Once More, with Clarity: While dying, she gives Carl her scrapbook after filling it up. He takes it to mean that he should fulfill her promise to go to Paradise Falls. It was actually releasing him from the promise; when he looks into it much later, it's filled with photos of her married life and a thanks to him for the adventure, while telling him to find another one.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: As a child, she did.
- Posthumous Character: She strongly influences the story.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The impulsive red to Carl's reserved blue, though she appeared to have mellowed out a bit as she aged.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The spunky Energetic Girl to Carl's mellow Savvy Guy.
- She's All Grown Up: She goes from a gawky, androgynous little girl to a beautiful woman and continues to age gracefully up to her deathbed.
- Silver Fox: She appears to be beautiful, even in old age.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Her death is responsible for Carl's attitude for most of the film.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: When they were kids, she was the Huge Girl to Carl's Tiny Guy.
- Tsundere: When she first meets Carl, she's fiery and all "tsun" towards him. But when she realizes how shy he is, it quickly goes away and she goes straight to "dere". Though in her childhood sequences, she switches between the two easily due to being a Fiery Redhead.
- Used to Be a Tomboy: As a kid, she was more rowdy with messy hair and going barefoot. She's much more feminine as an adult though she's still clearly quite tomboyish.
- The Voiceless: Ironically, the audience never hear her speak during her adulthood.
- Voice for the Voiceless: She does all the talking for Carl when they were children.
Russell
"The wilderness must be explored! Caw-caw, rawr!"
Voiced by: Jordan Nagai
Russell is the deuteragonist. He is a Junior Wilderness Explorer who accompanied Carl Fredricksen to Paradise Falls. He also appears at the end of Dug's Special Mission and features in an episode of Dug Days.
- Adorably Precocious Child: Russell tries to act like a grown-up.
- Ambiguous Situation: What little we learn of his home life doesn't paint a very clear picture.
- Asian Airhead: Zig-zagged. Even though he fails to read the room often and is incredibly naive, he's remembered just about everything he's learned in his time as a Wilderness Explorer, from recognizing types of clouds to vegetation and some basic survival skills.
- Asian and Nerdy: A dorky boy who is Asian.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He takes down dogfighters by exploiting their Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny! nature.
- Big Fun: He's a chubby, sweet kid.
- Cannot Tell a Lie: If only Russell could've laid low about his discovery of Kevin...
- Cheerful Child: Even cheerful in a jungle.
- Children Are Innocent: Goes hand in hand with Cannot Tell a Lie.
- Chest of Medals: His Wilderness Explorer sash is absolutely covered in all the badges he's earned. The last one he needs to become a Senior Wilderness Explorer is the "Assisting the Elderly" badge, which kicks off the plot in the present day.
- Determinator: Either by gaining his father's approval or saving his friends.
- Disappeared Dad: We never see Russell's dad, and from what we hear about him, he's pretty neglectful of his son.
- Distressed Dude: He gets captured by Muntz in the film's climax, and is rescued by Carl right before he can fall 10,000 feet.
- Friend to All Living Things: He quickly wants to adopt both Dug and Kevin when he first meets them.Russell: An Explorer is a friend to all / Be it plant or fish or tiny mole!Carl: That doesn't even rhyme!
- Genius Ditz: Despite having dozens of merit badges, including in Zoology, he doesn't realize there's no such thing as a snipe. Another example is when he doubts there's a bus stop in Paradise Falls, and then, a few lines later, figures he might be able to use his city bus pass. In South America.
- Heroic Resolve: He simply cannot climb a rope... until he realizes Carl is in trouble.Russell: You leave Mr. Frederickson alone!!
- Intergenerational Friendship: He and Carl become close friends. Russell is around ten, while Carl is a senior citizen.
- Like a Son to Me: One interview says that Russell was designed to be the child Ellie and Carl were unable to have, in both a figurative and literal spirit. Figurative in that if they had had a child, that child would be very much like Russell (especially at the end when he has both a mother and father figure in his life), and that Russell fills the hole Ellie left behind when she died, much like Carl and Ellie's potential child would have. Literal in that if you look close enough, Russell has features VERY similar to that of both Ellie and Carl...
- Little Stowaway: Unintentionally, Russell ends up staying in the house when it takes air, thus forcing Carl to take him along.
- The Load: Russell at first seems to fit this category: he loses his Wilderness Explorer GPS, literally acts as a deadweight while Carl is towing the house, cannot put up his tent, and reveals to Muntz that he and Carl have met "the Monster of Paradise Falls" (i.e. Kevin the Bird). Probably meant to be an inversion of how in many films where a crotchety old man is paired up with a spunky kid, it's the adult who's portrayed as inept and in need of rescue. Plus, Russell has the excuse that he has no real way of getting home under his own power. If Carl doesn't do it, the poor kid is toast. However, he eventually takes a level in badass.
- Motor Mouth: Carl tries to get him to play "Who Can be Quiet the Longest":Russell: My mom loves that game!
- Nice Guy: A kind and helpful child.
- The Pollyanna: Almost always optimistic, even in the face of certain doom.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Not as much as Dug, but still notable.
- Tagalong Kid: He accidentally gets stuck under the house when it takes off, and becomes Carl's main companion on his adventure to Paradise Falls.
- Too Dumb to Live:
- He makes some very poor survival choices throughout the movie, though since he's a sheltered little kid it's hardly surprising.
- He even goes after Muntz to rescue Kevin by himself. It just leads to him getting captured.
- Took a Level in Badass: Not as much as Carl, but he does become considerably more self-reliant as the movie goes on.
- Unlikely Hero: A harebrained and chubby little boy is hardly what you'd call prime hero material.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Russell's motivation is to earn his last badge and, thereby, his father's praise.
Kevin
Voiced by: Pete Docter
Kevin is a giant, flightless bird of a species unknown to science. She is the main target of Charles Muntz's hunt in South America. Russell named her "Kevin" before he learned her actual gender.
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: She taps Carl on the head with her beak to copy this trope.
- Amplified Animal Aptitude: Kevin is pretty smart for a bird, and knows how to dodge traps Muntz and his dogs set for her.
- Animal Gender-Bender: Her colours are based on the Himalayan monal (a pheasant species), specifically the male form (in general, male birds tend to be much more colourful than the females where prominent sexual dimorphism is present). That said, she's meant to be a fictional species of bird so the trope is downplayed.
- Animal Nemesis: In a roundabout way to Muntz, as she's Moby-Dick to his Ahab. Unlike most, though, she isn't even responsible for any degree of pain he went through, he just wants her so he can prove he was right.
- Artifact Name: They have a Gender-Blender Name as they're still called Kevin even after Dug reveals she's a girl.
- Artistic License – Ornithology: While mostly averted due to how realistic of a bird Kevin is portrayed, the only mistake is how she's shown to love chocolate, while it can give birds food poisoning in real life.
- The idea behind this is that Kevin probably loves eating the soft pulp of cacao pods, which she finds by the smell of the cacao seeds. Although the wild seeds are bitter tasting, when the chocolate is produced from them, it contains a larger amount of cacao powder in the candy bar and loses its regular inedible traits becoming a super dangerous treat for non-human species.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Kevin looks like a goofy-looking colorful lanky bird, but she's smarter than she looks and isn't afraid to attack you if you hurt what triggers her maternal instinct.
- Cartoon Creature: The creators say that she's based on the male Himalayan Monal pheasant, but her real species remains unknown to this day.
- Character Tics: Has a few:
- Swallows and retches Carl's walker.
- Cuddling Russell.
- Tapping Carl on the head with her beak.
- Hissing at Dug.
- Cute, but Cacophonic: She sounds like something awful's happening to a parrot.
- Damsel in Distress: Gets captured by Muntz in the climax of the film, making it up to Carl and Dug to rescue her.
- Expy: Of the Road Runner, who's a fast-running, colorful bird that's impossible to catch.
- Foreshadowing: The fact that she's not only female but a mother is hinted at by the affectionate way she acts toward Russell when she first meets him, at least once cradling him like a baby.
- Fragile Speedster: She's a quick runner, but once she's hurt she's slower thus easier to catch.
- Gender-Blender Name: Russell unintentionally gives her a masculine name.
- Gentle Giant: If you're Carl or Russell, played straight. If you're a dog, averted.
- Mama Bear: Towards Russell and her babies. She was prepared to attack Carl when she perceived him to be a threat to Russell.
- Samus Is a Girl: Which Russell lampshades:Russell: Kevin's a girl?
- Shown Their Work: Her quirks, mannerisms, and body language are a composite of several real birds. Parrots are the primary inspiration, but there's some cassowary and hawk in Kevin as well. Her bright colors are based on the (male) Himalayan Pheasant
◊. The loud call she gives to her babies is almost identical to a peacock. - Super-Speed: She's obviously flightless, but she can run like the wind. Her speed makes her hard prey to catch, much to the dismay of Muntz and his dogs.
- Tomboyish Name: Even as her true gender is revealed, Russell and Carl keeps calling her "Kevin".
- Trademark Favorite Food: Kevin absolutely LOVES chocolate, which in reality is NOT in the least bit safe for birds to consume.
- Your Tomcat Is Pregnant: Kevin the "snipe" is really a mama (or at least assumed to be by the characters). But her name remains Kevin even after the discovery.
Dug
"I have just met you, and I love you!"
Voiced by: Bob Peterson
Dug is a Golden Retriever who is the low dog in Charles Muntz' dog pack, who can speak via a voice device on his collar. He also appears in Dug's Special Mission as the protagonist, in George & A.J. as a minor character, and is the star of Dug Days and Carl's Date.
- All of the Other Reindeer: All of Charles' dogs consider him unfit to be one of them, Alpha assigned him a "special mission" with the intention of getting him out of the way.
- Amplified Animal Aptitude: Downplayed. Dug is definitely a dim bulb, but a few of his actions (particularly the way he outwits Alpha) show a supra-canine problem-solving ability.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: He gets easily distracted by a "
SQUIRREL!" - Awesome Moment of Crowning: After tricking Alpha into wearing the Cone of Shame, the rest of the pack immediately sit to him as their new alpha.
- Babies Ever After: The ending credits show him being the father of lots of puppies with a female golden retriever.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: Compared to all of Charles' army of ferocious looking dogs, Dug's more fluffier and cuter and is also one of the heroes.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's a sweet, goofy and dim-witted dog. But try to hurt Carl, and he won't be above BITING YOU to protect his master.
- Big Friendly Dog: He's definitely the nicest, and stupidest of the dogs.
- Birthday Episode: He reveals in his short that the day that he found Carl and Russell was his birthday. Alpha, Beta, and Gamma sarcastically wish him a happy birthday.
- Breakout Character: One of the fan favorites and had his own spinoff series Dug Days.
- Break the Cutie: Poor dog keeps getting kicked through the movie:
- Even if it's played for laughs, it's still sad to see Dug humiliated with the Cone of Shame.
- Carl calling him a bad dog during his Heroic BSoD. It's the worst thing Dug could ever imagine hearing.
- In "Dug's Special Mission", Dug is called a "bad dog" and mocked by his pack. On his birthday. Luckily for him, he meets Carl and Russell not too short after which lightens the mood.
- Butt-Monkey: Gets this treatment from the rest of Muntz's canine army.
- Canine Companion: Eventually becomes one to Carl, based on the credits scenes and Dug Days.
- Cannot Tell a Joke: His one attempt is a dismal flop.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Dug's mind is in the clouds most of the time.
- Cone of Shame: "I do not like the cone of shame..."
- The Dog Bites Back:
- A literal example when he bites Muntz to protect Carl.
- Later, he puts the Cone of Shame on Alpha and humiliates him after the latter treated him like crap for the whole movie.
- Dogs Are Dumb: Dug's principal characteristics are courage and devotion... not brains.
- Dogs Hate Squirrels: He really, really doesn't like squirrels and thinks a dead squirrel would make for a funny punchline.
- Dogs Love Fire Hydrants: Seen in Dug Days, once Dug has been introduced to suburbia.
- Justified in "Smell", when Dug gets distracted by the fire hydrant while investigating the strange smell. He is able to smell the other dogs (and one human) that have peed there recently.
- Exaggerated in "Flowers", when Dug's dream fantasy includes a giant fire hydrant.
- Don't Explain the Joke: "See? It is funny because the squirrel gets dead!"
- Dumb Is Good: Dug is noticeably stupider than all the other dogs, who can talk in complex sentences and even, in at least one case, cook. The dogs themselves are not that intelligent, but they're still smarter than Dug.
- Happily Married: The credits show that he fell in love and had many puppies.
- Heel–Face Turn: Dug eventually leaves Charles Muntz and joins Carl in the end.
- Heroic Dog: He's a dog who is one of the main heroes, turning against his first owner and pack to save the innocent Carl and Russell.
- Lookalike Lovers: The ending credits has Dug having puppies with a female golden retriever that's a perfect copy of him.
- Love at First Sight: A platonic example, but he instantly takes a liking to Carl and Russell after meeting them.Dug: My name is Dug. I have just met you, and I love you.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Dug decides that Carl is his master after being repeatedly mistreated by Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Omega.
- Nice Guy: A heroic, kind, undyingly loyal dog to Carl and Russell.
- Odd Name Out: Dug's is the only name (that we hear) that is not from a letter in the Greek alphabet.
- Oscar Bait: An unusual example: the creators say that Dug was added to the film with the aim of winning the "Palme D'og" award for "best canine performance" at the Cannes Film Festival. Which may be the only time in history that fiction writers have made an artistic decision to boost their chances of winning a joke award.
- Perpetual Smiler: Though he can be serious when the situation calls for it, his signature wide, enthusiastic grin occupies his face for a good chunk of the time.
- Plucky Comic Relief: One of the funniest characters in the movie.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: He's a cute Golden Retriever.
- Talking Animal: Courtesy of Muntz' special collar.
- That Makes Me Feel Angry: His voice-activated collar constantly tells other characters what he's thinking, seemingly without Dug being able to control it.
- Token Good Teammate: To the other dogs.
- Undying Loyalty: Even though Carl was upset with him for unknowingly leading Muntz to them, he still followed Carl and hid under his porch.
Charles F. Muntz (Unmarked Spoilers)
"Adventure is out there!"
Voiced by: Christopher Plummer
Charles F. Muntz is a famous explorer admired by Carl Fredricksen and his wife Ellie as children, and the main antagonist. In the movie, he found the bones of a tropical bird in South America but the scientific community claimed they were fake. Insulted, Muntz searches the South American wilderness for a live member of the same bird species, traveling in a zeppelin with his many pet dogs, whom he equips with special collars he invented that enable them to speak.
- Affably Evil: Muntz is normally friendly and polite. He loves his dogs. He's a good host. But when Muntz thinks someone else is trying to catch Kevin, he turns homicidal.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Carl shakily gasps in horror when Muntz falls to his death.
- All for Nothing: His obsession to prove the bird skeleton wasn't a fake leads him to spend sixty years in Paradise Falls hunting down a live bird and slowly descending into madness. By the time the film's main events take place, the age of explorers is long gone, the majority of Muntz' naysayers are probably dead, and South America itself is no longer considered the mysterious lost world that it was in his generation. Even if he had successfully captured Kevin and returned to civilisation, he'd be far less relevant and his discovery would quickly fade from the public eye, if it was ever noticed to begin with.
- Any Last Words?: Towards the end of the film, Muntz asks Carl if he has any last words after cornering him in the sword fight (which were the former's last words in the film). Carl's response is to spit out his false teeth at him and run off while putting them back in.
- Ax-Crazy: It may not be clear at first, but when he strongly implies that he's actually murdered others in the past just because he was paranoid that they were after his bird, AKA Kevin, it's quite obvious he's gone completely insane after decades in isolation. And it goes From Bad to Worse from there. By the end of the movie, he attempts to kill Kevin, Dug, and Russell (a kid mind you) in cold blood with a rifle.
- Benevolent Boss: He's a good master to his dog minions.
- Big Bad: The main antagonist of the film. His objective to capture Kevin and prove her existence to the world led to him killing everything else in the way.
- Broken Pedestal: As children, Carl and Ellie idolized Muntz and both wanted to be explorers like him, and the older Carl even claims that he and Ellie were Muntz's "biggest fans". Though Ellie doesn't live to see Muntz's true colors, Carl witnessed his madness.
- Character Catchphrase: "Adventure is out there!"
- Clear My Name: When he first returned from Paradise Falls, Muntz was called a fraud when he didn't bring back a live subject note . He spends the rest of his life in Paradise Falls obsessively trying to capture the beast to prove that he was right.
- Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: He was modeled after Kirk Douglas.
- Cool Old Guy: The guy's in his nineties, and he almost takes Carl Fredricksen down in a sword fight and designs collars that allow dogs to talk! Some of the other adventures that we only hear bits and pieces of sound pretty epic. Many decades in the South American rainforest haven't diminished his charisma one bit. His sanity, on the other hand...
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: If he wasn't so obsessed with catching Kevin, he could have become a billionaire with his talking dog collars.
- Detrimental Determination: As a young man, he was humiliated with accusations that the skeleton he brought from Paradise Falls was actually fake and declared that he would bring another of its species alive if it was the last thing he did. The film shows exactly what that mindset can do to a person if they don't give up by having Muntz become obsessed over his hunt to the point of paranoia and insanity, killing anyone that he encounters that he believes is simply after the bird he was after. When Carl and Russell see this side of him, Carl instantly loses all respect of his former idol and declares him to be crazy. And Muntz's sanity just goes downhill from there, even after he catches the bird alive, since now he is determined that it stay that way no matter what happens.
- Disney Villain Death: It really does not get more dramatic than falling to one's death from 10,000 feet. Notable since the creators went to great lengths to avoid this trope, coming up with numerous other ways for Muntz to go, but defaulting back to the trope when it became clear that it was the only appropriate option. It's also a much more abrupt, realistic take on the trope than usual; no dramatic slow-motion arm flailing here, he just plummets like a stone.
- Egomaniac Hunter: Muntz has become one of these, ad nauseum. While he doesn't seek to kill Kevin, having vowed to capture her alive, he still plans to remove the bird from its natural environment to regain his honor and reputation.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He may be completely insane and amoral, but he greatly cares about his dogs. He even showcases to be saddened when he mentions the ones he lost in the maze.
- Evil Counterpart: To Carl. Both of them were fixated on the past, and on living their adventure. One was able to move on, the other wasn't.
- Evil Old Folks: Was turned into this after being revoked of his membership and being called a fraud.
- Face–Heel Turn: After being called a fraud, he returned to Paradise Falls to capture the bird, and after many, many years of failures, he obviously lost sight that keeping the bird with her family was more important than proving himself right.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: He plummets to his death from an airship that is about 10,000 feet above sea level.
- Fatal Flaw: His 60-year desperation to capture Kevin ultimately leads to his death.
- Foil: Muntz, like Carl, is an elderly man determined to fulfil his lifelong dream. But while Carl's dream is simply to have a final adventure, borne out of love for his late wife, Muntz's dream is to capture Kevin and restore his reputation, borne out of his own wounded pride. Carl also lived a long, happy life with Ellie before embarking on his adventure, while Muntz spent decades in isolation pursuing his obsession, slowly going mad in the process. And while Carl ultimately comes to terms with the past and puts aside his dreams, Muntz continues down his dark path, ultimately to his own death.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He built translators for his dogs.
- Gentleman Adventurer: In his youth, he wandered the world, visiting strange places, hunting dangerous beasts, and playing gin rummy with Theodore Roosevelt.Muntz: Ah yes, the Arsinotherium. Beast charged me while I was brushing my teeth. Used my shaving gear to bring him down!
- Go Mad from the Isolation: Muntz spent sixty years trying to catch Kevin with only his dogs for company. When Carl meets him, it's clear Muntz's sanity has deteriorated.
- Gun Nut: Towards the end, he goes completely off the rails and tries to kill Russell, Kevin and Dug with a rifle.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Inverted. He's the Big Bad, but he has a soft spot for his dogs.
- Mad Scientist: He's an explorer who discovered a new species of bird, but went mad from being accused of his discovery being fake.
- Motive Decay: By the time he duels Carl, he vows he's bringing Kevin back "dead or alive."
- Mysterious Middle Initial: The first initial for his middle name is "F" but the actual name remains a mystery.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Charles Muntz was modeled after Charles Lindbergh, right down to the nose. His character arc also seems to be inspired by the story of Jimmy Angel, an aviator whose desire for gold got him and his family trapped in the South American jungle for days. This would be a bit of stretch if Paradise Falls weren't modeled after Angel Falls. Jimmy discovered the falls while thinking it was a landmark where his previous client had found gold, and stranded his plane atop them.
- Offscreen Villainy: It's all but outright stated that Muntz has murdered other explorers that crossed his path in Paradise Falls. These explorers all had their own reasons for being there and were uninterested or possibly even unaware of Kevin's existence, but Muntz's obsessive paranoia led him to believe that they were trying to find his prize and steal his glory.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Muntz has a moment of shock when he sees Russell on his dirigible's windshield.
- He has a similar reaction when his foot gets snagged on some balloons, leading to his Disney Villain Death.
- Older Than They Look: The creators stated that he was 23 at the beginning of the movie, which makes him 92 by the time Carl meets him. He's still impressively fit for his age.
- The Paranoiac: To Muntz, everyone is out to take the bird from him. If the scene where Carl and Russell first meet him is any indication, he has to be convinced by some seriously extreme evidence to not assume people he meets are out to get him, and it takes very little for him to backslide into turning on them. It's also heavily implied that Carl and Russell are not the first innocent explorers that have had to face his wrath.
- Sanity Slippage: Being isolated from the rest of the world and eluded by a bird for sixty years has made him a heartless man, consumed by bitterness, paranoid to the extreme, and convinced that anyone who comes across him is after the bird.
- Serial Killer: Charles is heavily implied to have flat out murdered anyone who he sees as trying to steal 'his' bird in the past.
- Shadow Archetype: To Carl. Charles represents what could've become of Carl, had he not let go of his past dreams. The creators outright say that if Carl had not met Russell and formed a bond with him on his adventure, he would've continued down his obsessive path to the point where he'd become just like Muntz.
- Slasher Smile: Gives one when he turns against Carl and Russell.
- Small Name, Big Ego: By the time the film's main events take place, Muntz has largely faded from the public's memory, thanks in part to his previous humiliation over Paradise Falls. When they meet Muntz, Carl still idolizes him from his childhood, but the younger Russell has never even heard of him. Modern society is also much more knowledgable of South America than it was in Muntz’s time, so even if he did bring Kevin back, few would care about or even notice his achievement.
- Tragic Villain: Muntz was once a good and noble explorer whose passion for adventure inspired others, but then he was wrongly accused of making a false discovery, and humiliatingly cast out from the order of explorers. This injustice caused Muntz to spend sixty years desperately trying to find evidence to prove he wasn't a fraud. All those years of failure and isolation turned Muntz into a bitter shadow of his former self, unable to let go of his past humiliation or move on from his outdated mission. In the end, Muntz's obsession leads to his own death, and the worse thing is, even if he succeeded in his mission, it would've been for nothing.
- Villainous Cheekbones: Has a pair to rival Grand Moff Tarkin.
- Walking Spoiler: Very little can he said about this character without revealing that he's the film’s Big Bad. Though this didn’t stop the marketing from telling us that.
- Wise Old Folk Façade: Muntz is initially quite cordial with Carl (who's a big fan of him) and Russell, but turns against them when they refuse to help him hunt down the bird he's been pursuing.
- Would Hurt a Child: He has no qualms killing Russell if it means getting to Kevin.
Alpha
"Soon enough, the bird will be ours yet again."
Voiced by: Bob Peterson
Alpha is the secondary antagonist and the leader of Charles Muntz's pack of dogs.
- Amplified Animal Aptitude: Alpha isn't necessarily the smartest in Muntz' dog-pack, but he seems to be the best at anticipating future events and planning.
- Angry Guard Dog: Alpha is very firm in following the master's orders, and is willing to attack others if he's commanded to.
- The Comically Serious: When his collar does his squeaky voice, it's hard to take him seriously.
- Cone of Shame: Alpha is the Trope Namer. Dug sticks it on him for the win, and becomes the new alpha.
- Creepy High-Pitched Voice: Zigzagged, the loose wire in his voice translator gives him a Helium Speech, until his master solves the problem, giving him a deeper voice.
- The Dragon: To Muntz, leading the rest of the pack.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Alpha is a Double Subversion, as his collar gives him a squeaky voice, but only when it's not working right. However, when his voice becomes deep, it becomes really deep.
- Heel–Face Turn: The credits show all of the villain's dogs, including Alpha, assisting the infirm.
- Humiliation Conga: In less than a minute, he gets locked into the steering wheel of the Spirit of Adventure by Dug with a conical device looking similar to the Cone of Shame leading to his voice collar getting broken once again and having all his Mooks laugh at his misfortune before finally being dethroned as the alpha dog by the very same dog he tried to maul.
- Large Ham: The broken wire in his collar doesn't help.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Gets his voice switched back to chipmunk and gets the Cone of Shame.
- Laughably Evil: He looks menacing, but his broken collar gives him a squeaky voice that makes it impossible to take him seriously.
- Not So Above It All: Even the serious and haughty Alpha can't fight off his canine instincts to shout "SQUIRREL!" when he thinks he sees one.
- Perpetual Frowner: While Beta and Gamma crack smiles every now and then and can even be humorous as well, Alpha is never comical, even with his ridiculous squeaky voice, and there is no point whatsoever in the movie when he smiles. He does smile twice in the short Dug's Special Mission, though.
- Retired Monster: A snapshot in the closing credits shows Alpha among the dogs that Russell brings to the retirement home to visit the occupants. He's politely offering his paw to an old lady (although, amusingly, he's still in the Cone of Shame).
- Right-Hand Attack Dog: Muntz' foremost dog, a rangy and nasty-looking Doberman.
- Talking Animal: Thanks to the collar Muntz built, Alpha can speak with humans.
- Vocal Dissonance: In-universe. Despite his imposing appearance, his voice sounds high-pitched and squeaky due to a malfunction in his collar.
The Dogs
Beta Voiced by: Delroy Lindo
Gamma Voiced by: Jerome Ranft
A group of guard dogs who work under Muntz.
- Amplified Animal Aptitude: Muntz has definitely dedicated some time to training his dogs. Other than talking, they can cook and fly planes. As a matter of fact, these dogs are much more intelligent and humane than your average real life household dog.
- Angry Guard Dogs: A whole pack of them. They aren't so angry when Charles acts cordially towards Carl and Russell, though.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: They get easily distracted by a SQUIRREL!
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: Alpha is a slender, long-legged doberman pincher, Beta is a bulky rottweiler, and Gamma is a short, stocky bulldog.
- Bully Bulldog: Gamma is a bulldog who works for the villain.
- Dogs Are Dumb: Most of them have not yet mastered human speech.
- Heel–Face Turn: The credits show all of the villain's dogs, including Alpha, assisting the infirm. That said, they were never really evil to begin with.
- Jerkass Has a Point: During a routine search for Kevin, Alpha chuckles to himself on getting Dug out of their hair. Beta, however, states that Muntz won't be pleased for losing one of his dogs. Alpha begrudgingly realizes he's right.
- Look Behind You: Whenever they hear a "squirrel", they get distracted easily. At the end of the film, Russell tricks them into crashing their planes and parachuting out. Gamma's response?
- My Instincts Are Showing: Smart as they are, they're still animals and can't ignore their instincts for certain things like tennis balls and SQUIRRELS! They also bark a lot when agitated, making it difficult to understand their translated speech.
- Oh, Crap!: Gamma says "Uh-oh" when Carl throws a tennis ball from his cane in order to rescue Kevin, only for the dogs to realize that they have been tricked.
- Punch Clock Villains: Lampshaded. They do whatever Muntz tells them to. In the scene where he says that they are his guests now, you can even hear one of them say "I like you temporarily!"
- Right Hand Attack Dogs: To Muntz.
- Talking Animals: Muntz built translation collars for his dogs so they can speak with humans.
- Terrible Trio: Alpha, Beta and Gamma form one, with Alpha being the relatively competent but bad-tempered leader and Beta and Gamma being his dim-witted sidekicks.
- Theme Naming: Most of them have Greek letters as their names, which also indicate their ranks in the pack. Beta and Gamma are Alpha's companions, and Epsilon is briefly mentioned as being a Supreme Chef. Dug is the Odd Name Out - he's so low-ranking there is no letter left for him.
