Character page for Monsters at Work is under construction.
For characters introduced in the original film, see the Monsters, Inc. page.
For characters introduced in the 2013 prequel, see the Monsters University page.
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Monsters, Inc.
Main Characters
Tylor Tuskmon
Trading in screams for comedy dreams.
Voiced by: Ben Feldman Other voice actors
The series' main protagonist, who graduates from Monsters University to work for Monsters, Inc. as a scarer, only to end up working in MIFT when he joins the company the day they transition from scream to laugh power.- The Ace: As a scarer, Tylor was very talented at his craft, having graduated College at the top of his class, and even breaking Sulley's old record at the scaring simulation room. Unfortunately for him, the events of the film rendered the position moot the same day he joined, so now he has to try learning an entirely new line of work at Monsters Inc, without the aid of a natural talent for being a funny monster like Mike, or having had time to train properly for the role like Sulley did for being a scarer.
- Aesop Amnesia: Downplayed. In the Season 1 finale, Tylor laments that he wishes Monsters, Inc. would just go back to getting Scream Power since that's what he's good at, but changes his mind when Sulley confides in him about the time he scared Boo in the first movie, which made Sulley realize how cruel and harmful Scaring actually is. Sulley's words seemingly haven't fully set in for Tylor at the start of Season 2, as he still feels he's better suited to Scaring due to a slump he's been having with making kids laugh, and eventually resigns from Monsters, Inc. in favour of a position at Fear, Co., where he gets to experience Sulley's Heel Realization firsthand after he scares Ben, and finally becomes completely disillusioned with Scaring for good.
- Alliterative Name: His first and last initials start with the letter "T".
- Ascended Fanboy: Tylor grew up idolizing Scarers and was thrilled to be in a position to work at Monsters, Inc. when he thought the company was about scaring.
- Basement-Dweller: Tylor still lives with his parents and his dad still makes him lunch. Justified in that he just graduated from college and is yet to make enough money from his first job to move out.
- Butt-Monkey: Much of the first season sees him suffer a wide variety of humorous misfortune as he struggles to prove he has what it takes to be a Jokester. He's gotten smacked around, gotten his horns stuck in door tracks, hit by a variety of flying objects, forced to be Duncan's slave, and falling on a variety of objects to his utter humiliation.
- Career Not Taken: Happens twice. Tylor was educated to be a Scarer, but arrived to Monster's Inc. just as it switches to laugh power. He ends up on the MIFT team, and just absolutely wants out at first. He does everything to get the Jokester position at Monster's Inc. Eventually, between his hijinks through the season and his time at Monster's Inc., his team helps him get the spot and he becomes a Jokester. Happens again as part of the plot of the second season where Tylor finds out Fear Co. still has Scarers, and Johnny Worthington wants Tylor on his team. As Tylor always wanted to be a Scarer and it pays better, he struggles with the decision and initially turns Johnny down, but regrets it and tries to get back in. Tylor eventually gets the position, but after he scares a child he knew from Monster's Inc., he becomes horrified by his own actions and realizes being a Scarer is just as bad as Sulley once told him. By the end of the series, he's back at Monster's Inc as a Jokester.
- Cassandra Truth: When it appears Tylor's been sabotaging the company, his claims of innocence fall on deaf ears. Even Val refuses to believe him, as Tylor's been stuck in his head for the last few days and ignoring her own plights.
- Character Development: At the start of the series, Tylor is shocked and upset to be placed with MIFT until he can prove himself capable as a Jokester, and takes any opportunity he can to try and get out of MIFT and on to the Laugh Floor. As the series progresses, however, he comes to appreciate his fellow MIFTers, and even hesitates to accept a position of Jokester at the end, telling his friends that he would rather stay with them. In season 2, he comes to fully understand Sulley's viewpoint about why he hates scaring now, after scaring Ben to the point of tears, he's so ashamed of himself and follows his footsteps in quitting being a scarer.
- Chekhov's Skill: Played With. The Running Gag of Tylor’s klutziness and things ending up on his horns isn’t portrayed as a skill or something he does intentionally, but it turns out to be the key in his ability to make others laugh.
- Connected All Along: Sulley was the one who recommended him for the job at M.I., in no small part thanks to breaking his old record in the M.U. scare simulator.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To Mike and Sulley. All three monsters are highly skilled scarers (Sulley and Mike being the top team at the company for years, Tylor having graduated at the top of his class), but the paths they took to get to M.I. were very different. Tylor gets there through a college education and an immediate hiring right after graduation, while Mike and Sulley, who were expelled from M.U., work their way up from the bottom to get to their dream position over the course of several years. Where they differ is when the pivotal transition from scream to laugh occurs; Mike and Sulley's actions in the film and their discovery of laugh power land them the position of CEO, with Mike getting to live his dream as a top jokester thanks to his natural comedic talent, while both have to deal with the struggle getting the company into this new era. Tylor, however ends up proving to be unfunny right out of the gate, gets stuffed into a very low-ranking position in MIFT, and struggles to keep up given he was trained in a very different field, whereas Mike and Sulley excelled in their lower-ranking positions. Luckily for him, things get better over time.
- A Degree in Useless: He studied in scaring his whole life, which earned him the opportunity to work at Monsters, Inc. the day he graduated. All that ends up going to waste when they switch to laugh power.
- Determinator: When attempting to become a jokester and get a spot on the Laugh Floor after finding out about the changes done at Monsters Inc., he is described as "persistent".
- Easily Condemned: After Duncan finds evidence in Tylor's locker consisting of stolen personnel effects from other monsters, everyone assumes he's been sabotaging the company for Johnny. Because Tylor's been stuck in his head about turning down Johnny's scare offer just after he learns his family's been having money troubles, nobody believes his claims of innocence despite Tylor not having the aptitude to pull off that kind of job. They learn almost too late the real saboteur is Randall.
- Easily Forgiven: Both Roger and Ben forgive him rather easily for exposing them as Waternoose's kid and scaring them so horribly respectively, though it helps Tylor was genuinely regretful about both.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After ten episodes of dealing with the antics and misadventures of the maintenance team he was put in and struggling to be funny, he finally fulfils his new aspiration of being a Jokester in Monsters, Inc. and gets to work alongside Val, his new laugh assistant. Later in Season 2, he's able to expose Johnny's plans to sabotage Monsters, Inc., and he patches up his relationship with Val to become comedy partners on the laugh floor, proving laugh power as a viable alternative to scream.
- Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: Downplayed. Tylor is a Nice Guy overall, but the one person amongst M.I. he only tolerates is Duncan, though it doesn't help that Duncan inexplicably hates him.
- Everyone Has Standards: Him and Duncan may not exactly be on good terms with each other, but even he doesn’t want him (or anyone else) to get banished as shown in “The Cover Up”.
- Fatal Flaw: Season 2 reveals that it's his inability to communicate properly. When Johnny offers him a prestigious scaring position at Fear Co., he tries to hide it from everyone out of fear that they'll think he's turned traitor, and is forced to admit it to Val only because she pressed him on it. But as the circumstances of his life change and he learns his family is in deep financial troubles, he begins to worry he made the wrong choice when he turns down the job, inadvertently stepping on Val's toes when she's offered a Jokester position and fracturing their friendship. It gets worse when he's framed for being a corporate saboteur, but getting stuck in his head causes no one to believe him, resulting in him storming off and quitting M.I. to work at Fear Co. He eventually realizes his mistake and owns up to his friends.
- First Day from Hell: He gets hired on to be a scarer at Monsters, Inc., but the day he walks in the door is the day the company changes from scream to laugh power. Due to the chaotic transition, he doesn't find out until he's already cycled through two high-ranking employees beforehand, and ends up being stuffed in MIFT because his family owns a hardware store. He finds his entire group of coworkers are a bunch of Cloud Cuckoolanders and tries to get onto the laugh floor so he can prove himself, only to end up turning the entire area into a disaster zone. Lucky for him, Mike and Sulley give him a break.
- Foil: Season 2 makes him one to Randall Boggs, whom he has the displeasure of meeting. Like Randall, Tylor was given the opportunity to become a prominent position in the energy industry after working his way up through college, only to find himself jealous that his coworker—a college dropout—managed to get that job through sheer luck and talent. However, Randall's jealousy towards Mike and Sulley reached pure pettiness of being Always Second Best and would resort to corporate sabotage for both Waternoose and later Johnny to get payback, but while Tylor's jealousy did have some understandable concerns (namely Poor Communication Kills and the fact that Val's promotion to Jokester came at the same time she made him promise not to take Johnny's Scarer offer), he let go of it and congratulated her.
- Heel Realization: Like Sulley with Boo, him scaring Ben, especially after his time as a Jokester, made him realize the true horror of being a scarer.
- Heroic BSoD: When Tylor starts working at Fear Co. as a Scarer, he ends up being forced to scare Ben, a kid that he has visited frequently as a Jokester. Seeing how scared he made Ben causes him to have a panic attack, realizing what his dream of being a Scarer actually means.
- I Choose to Stay: Subverted. He was initially planning to stay with MIFT and only works as a jokester for one day to help save Monsters, Inc., but the rest of MIFT convince him to accept the promotion.
- Inconsistent Spelling: It's Tylor Tuskmon, not Tyler Tuskman.
- Informed Ability: Tylor graduates Monsters University at the top of his scaring class, and is frequently praised by the other characters for being the ideal Scarer. While he is shown performing exceptionally well on MU's scare simulator, it's never shown how well Tylor would have performed when scaring a real child. Even his attacking of Vendy 2 in the sixth episode, during which Cutter remarks what a fearsome Scarer he would have been, is not shown onscreen. It's finally Subverted in Season 2, where his brief stint as a scarer at Fear Co. shows him make it to the top of the leaderboard on his first day (though the way he gets there at the end leaves him rather horrified).
- Innocently Insensitive: Tylor gets the news that Val has been offered a promotion to Jokester—just right after he turns down a very generous offer from Johnny to become a scarer, which gets worse when he learns his parents are in financial troubles. He's so worried about having made a big mistake, he dismisses Val's desires out of hand and fails to properly support her, fracturing their friendship for a time. He eventually owns up and apologizes.
- In-Series Nickname: Duncan has yet to actually use Tylor's name, only derisively referring to him as "college boy".
- Less maliciously, Fritz is fond of calling him "Ty-Ty", while Val prefers the casual "Double T".
- Ironic Name: His name is Old English for "tiler", otherwise someone who lays out tiles—a common repair position. Tylor, who's parents owned a hardware store, absolutely stinks at making any sort of repairs.
- Irony: Throughout the show, he keeps stating that his stay at MIFT is temporary and that he plans on becoming a jokester. In the last episode, he finally becomes a jokester-in-training, except now he keeps saying that it's only for one day and that he'll return to MIFT afterwards.
- It's All My Fault: He becomes devastated when he learns his family barely has any money to scrape by, and becomes very worried that he made a mistake by turning down Johnny's offer to be a scarer when he could have pulled his family out of their financial rut.
- The Klutz: When it comes to scaring, nobody's better. Everything else, however, he's constantly tripping over his feet or causing a mess. This moves Ms. Flint to promote him to jokester for his "physical comedy", having noted of it from her daughter. Ironically, He contributes more to the company in ways many could never have imagined. He is responsible for giving the company their new slogan "It's Laughter We're After". He is also the one who brought up the idea of making bigger canister, which not only saves the company from shut down, but also answered the energy crisis. This and his clumsiness help promote Tylor into becoming an official Jokester.
- LEGO Genetics: His parents are seen in separate episodes, as well as a deleted scene
. His mother has three eyes and his father has one eye. Tylor has two eyes. - Like Father, Unlike Son: He mentions in the first episode that his parents own a hardware store, implying that they're skilled and experienced in physical engineering and repairs. Tylor himself is incredibly clumsy and far better at breaking things than fixing them.
- Only Sane Man: Compared to the overly-enthusiastic Val and Fritz, the Token Evil Teammate Duncan, and the Deadpan Snarker Cutter, Tylor is the only member of MIFT who has his head on straight. Banana Bread could also have been sane, but he leaves MIFT for a position as a Jokester at the end of the second episode, leaving Tylor to have this position up until Tylor himself also gets promoted to Jokester.
- Poor Communication Kills:
- It seems no one but Mike and Sulley are willing to listen to him the moment he walks into Monsters, Inc for his first day. Needs to report for the job? Celia is busy moving to her new position and tells her to see Miss Flint. Tries to get Miss Flint's attention? She's busy training new jokesters and sends him to H.R.. Learns that the company's switching to laugh power and says his parents own a hardware store? He's immediately assigned to MIFT without being checked for mechanical competency. Makes it abundantly clear to his new teammates he's not going to be there for very long? They just over-enthusiastically welcome him like a permanent member (sans Duncan, who just wants to kill him thinking he's gunning for Fritz's job). It's no wonder he's having trouble on his first day.
- It gets worse in Season 2 when Johnny offers to let him become a scarer at Fear Co. Tylor tries hiding it from everyone (except Val, who presses him into admitting it) out of worry how people will react, but all this does is lead to a series of events where no one believes he's innocent of corporate sabotage, all because the preceding events of turning down said offer cause him to get stuck in his head.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The Savvy Guy to Val's Energetic Girl. Tylor is more calm, level-headed, focused on his determination to become a jokester and is the Only Sane Man of MIFT while Val is more excitable, talkative, and fun-loving.
- Smarter Than You Look: Tylor has shown to have a level of brilliance despite being a klutzy maintenance worker who studied scaring. In the First Season finale, Tylor advocated for MIFT to manufacture larger canisters to be able to collect more powerful laugh energy. Being a scarer he at least understands how screams are converted into energy, and thus understands that laugh power operates on the same principle.
- Super-Strength: He has this to some degree, befitting somebody of his stature, as he's able to dislodge old scream canisters wedged into the ceiling without too much effort, sans one that becomes important later on when it does wedge loose.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: After scaring Ben and realizing what he's done, all he can do for a moment is stare wide-eyed at Ben's bed without saying a word, all the while backing up to the door.
- Top-Heavy Guy: Tylor's chest is almost as wide as his horns and his arms are noticeably longer and thicker than his legs, which serves him well in the handyman job of MIFT preforming heavy lifting tasks, but also causes him some problems with jobs that require a more delicate and graceful touch.
- Wrong Line of Work: He was specifically educated to be a scarer, not a jokester. That being said, he's trying to learn to be funny while working at MIFT, but even he has trouble at that job given he's a klutz.
- You Are Too Late: He gets a letter signed by Waternoose declaring his position in M.I. in response to his outstanding performance as a scarer. By the point of his first day on the job, however, Waternoose has been arrested and the company is in a transitional stage of using laugh energy instead of scare energy, rendering his scaring skills useless.
Val Little
Makes sure the fun gets done.
Voiced by: Mindy Kaling Other voice actors
Tylor's one-time classmate from Monsters University, she's the overly excitable MIFT member he first encounters.- Awesome by Analysis: As a Jokester, she analyses the rooms for each kid she visits to see what they are interested in, relating to them on a personal level instead of just telling stock jokes.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Turns out the reason Val is so obsessed with her "BFF" Tylor is because when she was at M.U., no one really noticed her at all until one day in class when Tylor asked her "Is this seat taken?". Telling Tylor this actually gets him to remember her and her response “You picked the best seat in the house” a bit because she shared his favorite candy with him.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Though she is usually goofy and energetic, she can put her foot down when she needs to and be assertive, like when she growls at Duncan to say something nice to Tylor when MIFT is celebrating his promotion to becoming a Jokester.
- Big Fun: She's a thicker member of Art's species and she's always joyous, friendly and sweet.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: The first of several on MIFT Tylor meets.
- Disproportionate Reward: She is a loyal and devoted friend to Tylor, only because Tylor was the only student who didn't bother to ignore her, even several years after they took that class together. So it can be considered a case of "I want to reward him just because he demonstrated basic decency".
- Genki Girl: Is full energy which often causes her to tire Tylor out with her over excitement.
- Hidden Depths: Turns out, she's even better at being a Jokester than Tylor without any training from Mike. So much she filled up an entire large canister from the laughter of one child.
- Meaningful Name: One of the many means of Val in Latin is "worth". Part of Val's offscreen adventures was finding her own sense of worth, which she achieved when she joined MIFT.
- Motor Mouth: She is very chatty and bubbly, and most of her dialogue consists of her going on long tirades that Tylor struggles to keep up with.
- Nice Girl: Is cheerful and friendly towards everyone she meets and is always willing to help them out as mentioned below.
- Pet the Dog: She willingly gives up being a temporary supervisor so Duncan could have it. This does cause a few problems when a cover up Duncan instigates nearly gets the factory shut down.
- Platonic Life-Partners: She and Tylor describe their relationship as self-proclaimed “work buddies”, to the point where she had such a blast working with Tylor in his Jokester in training day as a temporary assistant that when he is promoted to full-time Jokester, Val asked to be his permanent assistant. Whether there’s anything romantic involved is quite uncertain. As of the end of Season two, the two become an official Comedy Duo, further solidifying their partnership.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Val is too cute and huggable to be a scary monster. If anything, she’s more the kind of monster you’d see on Sesame Street or Moshi Monsters.
- Reused Character Design: Somewhat. They're not an exact 1:1 match, but her body shape and proportions bring to mind Art from Monsters University. The fact that they're both Cloudcuckoolanders makes the similarities even more obvious.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The Energetic Girl to Tylor's Savvy Guy. Tylor is more level-headed, focused on his determination to become a jokester and is the Only Sane Man of MIFT while Val is more excitable, talkative, and fun-loving.
- School Is for Losers: Val dropped out of Monsters University due to seeing it as being too much of a commitment.
M.I.F.T.
Fritz
#1 boss because he says so.
Voiced by: Henry Winkler Other voice actors
The enthusiastic leader of the Monsters, Inc. Facilities Team (or MIFT).- Affectionate Nickname: He likes to call Tylor "Ty-Ty".
- Benevolent Boss: While his eccentricities are well known, he's ultimately a nice guy.
- Beware the Silly Ones: He's a big goofball to be sure, but he's willing to throw down with Randall if any of his feller MIFTers get hurt.
- Big Fun: He's rather big and fat and loaded with fun for a fluffy, eccentric monster who's leading the MIFT team.
- Break the Cutie: A monster of adorable design and a big heart, he's crushed when Mr. Banana Bread accepts a promotion to jokester, thinking that he left because MIFT isn't special. Tylor gives him a can of Drooler Cooler—the same can Fritz himself gave him as a gift—to cheer him up.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Overly eccentric he may be, when it comes down to repairs, Fritz can get his team going without skipping a beat. Comes into play again when he goes all out on Randall in the fight to restore power.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Oh lords, yes. It's only Ty's second day on the job and immediately he sees Fritz giving out bird calls to his teammates.
- Companion Cube: Fritz is deeply attached to MIFT's vending machine, nicknamed "Vendy", because it was installed on his first day at Monsters, Inc. years ago. When Vendy breaks down in the sixth episode, Fritz fears it may be a sign that he's also past his prime and should retire.
- Cool Old Guy: Fritz has worked at Monsters, Inc. much longer than any of the other MIFTers, and is a kind fatherly figure to all of them.
- Cyclops: Has a single eye at the top of his head.
- A Father to His Men: He values each member of MIFT as if they were family, and is deeply devastated whenever one of them is promoted to a higher position. In the sixth episode, when budget cuts threaten the job of one employee, Fritz volunteers to retire himself, rather than fire one of his fellow MIFTers.
- Gag Nose: He has a large trunk similar to that of a tapir.
- Malaproper: He often gets some of his words wrong whenever he's overexcited, which is a lot of the time.
- Master Actor: He's able to channel his community theater experience to become the tough-as-nails Frankie Rigatoni when infiltrating Fear Co. in the season 2 finale. "Frankie" is tough enough to intimidate Joy, the toughest Scarer at Fear Co., and can hold his own fighting Randall Boggs. One drawback is that he gets Lost in Character and only snaps out of it when Cutter says "and... cut!"
- Meaningful Name: Fritz is German for "Peace Ruler", and this big cuddly monster is definitely both peaceful and a ruler (as the foreman of MIFT).
- Mood-Swinger: Generally a jolly guy by nature, but he can just as easily become sad when receiving bad news. Thankfully he seems to bounce back just as fast. He can also drop his sillier side instantly when a serious situation arises (as seen in episodes 2 and 8).
- Nice Guy: For all his faults, Fritz is this trope to a tee. He welcomes Tylor with open arms in spite of the monster not wanting to be there (not that he notices), and treats his teamsters like he's a father to them.
- Nonstandard Character Design: One of the few MIFTers—and onscreen monsters in general—to have a nose of some kind.
- Noodle Incident: Fritz apparently assisted someone, implied to be a former MIFT employee, in doing something illegal that made him an accomplice in the eyes of the law, something he's lived with for a good while. This incident is only mentioned once, and is not elaborated on.
- Not So Above It All: In spite of speaking of the sanctity of MIFT and its role in keeping M.I. running, he's not above bending the rules a little. Episode five shows him using a door that was supposed to be shredded for a quick vacation, in spite of the fact it's against company policy and could likely get the company shut down.
- Papa Wolf: He proves to be quite capable of fighting Randall in the Season 2 finale when harming the other MIFTers, going at him with fury and even being the one to weaken him by spraying him with booger slime to stop him from hiding. He holds nothing back in trying to take him down, and even hands him over personally to Roz with great sternness the whole time.
- Parental Substitute: Invoked and Played for Laughs. When they first meet, Fritz suggests that he could be a father figure to Tylor, or even a grandfather figure. Tylor points out that his actual father and grandfather are still alive, so Fritz settles for being a distant uncle figure instead.
- Stronger Than They Look: Don't be fooled by his fluffy exterior; he has some serious muscles under all that flab. After striking out during his first time to bat at the company softball game, he effortlessly scores a homerun with a hit that sends the ball flying over the fence and a long distance away from the playing field.
- That Makes Me Feel Angry: When depressed, he will actually say "Sad sigh."
Duncan P. Anderson
Works overtime to undermine.
Voiced by: Lucas Neff Other voice actors
The assistant supervisor to MIFT, who seeks Fritz's position when he retires (or dies).- Bait-and-Switch Character Intro: He at first makes himself out to be a nice and reasonable person who understands how uncomfortable Tylor feels in his new situation. But shortly after, he reveals his true demeanor about wanting to take Fritz's job and wanting Tylor out of the way.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Duncan seemingly comes off as being kind-hearted, regretful, and emotional in some moments, but in reality, he merely acts that way as a false pretext to constantly get his way of being promoted as "temporary supervisor", with the eventual intent of replacing Fritz outright.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: His eccentricities can give Randall a run for his money, but he's far from incapable of doing his job.
- Butt-Monkey: Sometimes gets hit with Amusing Injuries, which is satisfying considering how he treats Tylor.
- A Day in the Limelight: He's the focus of "The Cover Up".
- Empathy Pet: Roto seems to dislike Tylor just as much as their owner does.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: He still cares for his mother, as evidenced by his exuberant letter and emotional phone calls to her. It's also implied he wants to be supervisor so he can support her.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He may be a Suspiciously Similar Substitute for Randall and MIFT's resident Token Evil Teammate, but he clearly adores Roto.
- Even Evil Has Standards: The entire incident in "The Cover Up" was something he was more than willing to instigate, but when time passed and he was on the verge of getting fired, he actually regretted his choices. He also helps fight against Declan in "Powerless".
- Eye on a Stalk: Has four eyestalks, two of which are longer than the other pair.
- Freudian Excuse: It's implied that he's desperate to become supervisor so he can pay his mother's bills.
- The Friend No One Likes: Val barely tolerates Duncan, Cutter is very quick to make fun of him and always enjoys seeing Duncan suffer, and Tylor can't hide his contempt and exasperation for Duncan. Fritz is the only one in MIFT who treats Duncan genially.
- Fuzz Therapy: He has an emotional support animal named Roto, who he keeps with him due to an as-of-yet undisclosed medical condition.
- Green and Mean: He is a greenish color and the "Mean" part is particularly reserved for Tylor.
- Ignored Enemy: Duncan takes an instant dislike to Tylor, and sees him as his arch-rival for Fritz's position. In truth, Tylor has no interest whatsoever in Fritz's job and sees Duncan's constant threats as more of a nuisance than anything else.
- Improperly Paranoid:
- One of the reasons he hates Tylor is that he sees Tylor as competition in his climb up MIFT's ladder even as the younger monster makes clear repeatedly that he does not wants anything to do with MIFT or do any power plays. Even after Tylor moves to Monsters Inc.'s jokester division, Duncan's last line in the episode is him telling Tylor that he's got his eye on him in case this is a power play.
- In Season 2, he suspects Tylor is a corporate saboteur simply due to his dislike for him, and erroneously assumes with only a single Fear Co. coffee cup that he's pulling an inside job for Johnny. When he finds evidence in Tylor's locker pinning him as the suspect, he gleefully jeers over being proven right, but he had no idea that the true saboteur was the very monster he's inspired by—Randall Boggs.
- Jerkass to One: The MIFT team's most unpleasant monster, especially towards Tylor.
- Kick the Dog: He spends much of "The Cover Up" making Tylor his slave, constantly calling him "College Boy", and mocking him for having gone through all the trouble of a higher education, only for his dream industry to switch gears.
- Likes Older Women: Duncan falls hard for Tylor’s grandmother, Virginia, upon meeting her, calling her “intoxicating” and claiming that she has “skin that sags for days”.
- Mama's Boy: He pretty much brings up his mother on every occasion he gets.
- Meaningful Name: One of the meanings of the word Duncan in Scottish is "chieftain", otherwise a powerful leader. Duncan seeks to become the leader of MIFT by any means necessary.
- Mysterious Middle Initial: Duncan's middle initial is "P" but is not elaborated on.
- In "Little Monsters", Val implies his middle name is Pepperidge, though Duncan himself doesn't confirm or deny this.
- Opportunistic Bastard: He's scheming to take Fritz's job, and when the opportunity comes up to try and discredit Tylor (wrongfully thinking he wants the job), he goes for it without a second thought.
- Parental Neglect: In season 2 he states that his father was physically present but emotionally unavailable, likely explaining his attachment to his mother.
- Pet the Dog: He has a fuzzy pink emotional support animal he caresses and behaves very affectionately towards. He's also willing to take the fall for the entire incident in "The Cover Up", in spite of the fact it could cost him his dream job because he actually feels horrible about it.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Throughout Season 2, he is very suspicious that there is a saboteur at Monsters Inc. and believes that Tylor is responsible. he is correct that there is a saboteur, it's just not who he thinks he is.
- Sabotage to Discredit: He breaks an old scream canister and forces Tylor to fix it before it explodes, thinking that he can prove that the new recruit is ill-fit to take over Fritz's job as head of the department. He succeeds in making Tylor fail, but due to Poor Communication Kills, he thinks that the monster is his rival for the position when he clearly doesn't want to be a part of MIFT. He also rats out Tylor to the rest of MIFT when he lies about the bowling tournament being cancelled, with a big smirk on his face confirming it all. And this came after he swapped out the bowling teams in exchange for Tylor signing a contract promising he will never go for Fritz's job.
- The Starscream: Subverted. Unlike the backstabbing Trope Namer, Duncan is not willing to off Fritz to take his job, wanting to wait until he retires (or dies on his own… possibly). Others he sees as a threat to this possible ascension, however, he has no problem dealing with. Case in point? In episode 4, he swaps out the bowling teams for Tylor so he has a shot at winning the bowling tournament and impressing Mike, then almost immediately rats out what he did to MIFT so he can throw him under the bus. Episode 5 also shows that, like Starscream himself, he takes to running the place with a full, egotistical attitude.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: It seems Monsters, Inc. has at least one shifty-eyed, scheming employee willing to murder his own coworkers so he can climb through the ranks, as Duncan's actions and personality aren't that far off from Randall's. Though unlike Randall, Duncan at least has some standards as he puts his full effort into his job, doesn't try to off his boss (as it was implied Randall was planning to do to Waternoose), doesn't try to kidnap children and forcibly extract screams from them and actually gets along with his coworkers… at least the ones he doesn't think are trying to take his future job. Ironically enough, he does pull a very Randall-esque cover up in the fifth episode to try and keep his job, but he actually feels awful about it when he gets caught, as opposed to Randall being Randall about his little incident.
- Token Evil Teammate: He makes it clear he wants Tylor out of the way so he can ensure that he gets Fritz's job when the old man retires (or dies). That being said, he's still very competent at his job, and isn't being The Starscream in spite of his desires—well, at least the "stabbing his boss in the back" part; the fifth episode has him act like a king when he's given a temporary promotion, in a way that would make the Trope Namer proud.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Is seen eating several platters of "Snotchos", (Basically tortilla chips covered in mucus instead of cheese), in "The Big Wazowskis".
- Tuckerization: Is the 4th Pixar character to be named after Darla K. Anderson, the others being Finding Nemo 's Darla, Bonnie Anderson from the Toy Story series and Riley Anderson from Inside Out.
Katherine "Cutter" Sterns
Lean. Mean. Full of caffeine.
Voiced by: Alanna Ubach Other voice actors
A snarky, crab-like creature who works in MIFT.- Building Is Welding: Her signature tool is a powerful welder.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Her ridged adherence to her work ethic and blasé attitude to the many deaths of her fellow coworkers make her a very strange individual.
- Deadpan Snarker: She is hardly ever seen smiling, and is possibly the only member of the team who takes her job seriously.
- Extra Eyes: She has three eyes, which probably helps her job when it comes to spotting problems.
- Flat Character: She gets the least amount of focus out of all the MIFTers, and gets no character development. This changes in Season 2 with her relationship with Sunny.
- Gadgeteer Genius: It was her who built the prototype of the big canister that could hold ten times the power, all within the same day it was needed. She was pretty confident that she could too.
- Happiness in Minimum Wage: She is pretty happy with her position on the MIFT Team, she does her job to the best of her abilities, doesn't complain about her job and is overall always in a good mood.
- Meaningful Name: Her name is Cutter, referencing both her large claws and her welding tool, which can be used to make cuttings in metal.
- Mundane Utility: She uses her welder to toast her sandwich.
- Not So Above It All: In Episode 5, after seeing how Duncan is abusing his power over Tylor, she implicitly suggests launching a scream canister at the former with a smile on her face.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Nobody ever calls her anything but Cutter. Sunny calls Cutter by her real given name Katherine in "Opening Doors", which bothers her enough to remind her that she goes by "Cutter" now.
- Queer Establishing Moment: Hinted at in "Opening Doors" when they mentioned having a "relationship", but "Descent into Fear" has Cutter refer to Sunny as her "ex".
- Remember the Dead: Played for Laughs, but she can recount all the deceased MIFTers who passed away on the job. She reveals she even has remnants of each one in jars, some of which are still moving.
- Running Gag: Her collection of remnants from each of her coworkers who died in on-the-job accidents, as well as her love life (namely her having three ex-husbands).
- Seen It All: She's not very emotional about discussing the deaths of former MIFTers, indicating she's witnessed it enough times to not care about it.
Winchester "Banana Bread"
Voiced by: Dee Bradley Baker
A monster who speaks in raspberries who worked in MIFT.- Back for the Finale: He reappears in the last episode, which mainly takes place on the Laugh Floor where he currently works.
- Hidden Depths: In spite of being The Unintelligible, he shows a surprising amount of insight on comedy theory, leading him to getting promoted to a Jokester.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: The rest of the MIFT team called him "Banana Bread" because most of them can't understand him, his major defining trait is that he brings banana bread to work and that MIFT never bothered to learn what his actual name was. Ms. Flint reveals in the second episode that it's Winchester.
- The Unintelligible: He speaks in raspberries. Ms. Flint and Duncan seem to understand him fine.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Non-death example; he only appears in the first two episodes, not being given much characterization, before his promotion has him leaving MIFT. He never appears in the show again after that outside of his portrait on the leaderboards until the finale. He also reappears at the beginning of season two's "Monsters in the Dark".
Roger Rogers/Henry J. Waternoose IV
Voiced by: Rhys Darby
The new MIFTer who takes Tylor and Val's place in Season 2, he is a peppy, fuzzy octopus monster with a secret to hide. He is actually Waternoose's son, but in spite of that, is actually a good guy.- All-Loving Hero: Is beloved by all and in turn loves everyone back. He even forgives Tyler for exposing his real name, saying that if he saw himself yelling at his dad on the phone, he probably would be suspicious too. The only exception is his dad, as he's ashamed of his behavior in Monsters Inc..
- Camera Fiend: Loves to take pictures of everyone and everything. Mike actually told him to do that to gather info on employees so he can remember them.
- Disowned Parent: Wants nothing to do with his father, Waternoose, after the events of Monsters Inc.
- Everybody Knew Already: Downplayed. While it's clear that the MIFTers don't know about his real origin, with Fritz specifically not reading up on it because he wants to be fair, Sulley and Mike (and most likely HR, as his name was written as is in the application form) knew about this from the get-go. They don't believe in enforcing Sins of Our Fathers so they hired him.
- Extra Eyes: Has lots of them. A sign that he came from Waternoose III's line.
- Fish Eyes: One of his eyes (top right to be precise) is noticeably out of sync with the rest, facing away, rarely blinking, and opening and closing slowly a second after the other eyes.
- The Hyena: He is often seen giggling excitedly in certain scenes.
- I Am Not My Father: He is actually a good guy and likes to get along with everybody, and his phone call to his father strongly implies that he doesn't want anything to do with him after his criminal actions.
- Jack of All Trades: Besides being good with tools, he can sing, play the guitar, write music, and take good photos.
- Jerkass to One: Justified. He wants nothing to do with his father, Waternoose, because of his criminal conspiracy to kidnap as many children as possible to salvage the company.
- Loved by All: Manages to be liked by everyone at MIFT.
- Nice Guy: A genuinely good person who's easy to get along with.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: He prefers to be called Roger than Henry, primarily because it has been his nickname growing up.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He was acting rather suspiciously in "Lights! Camera! Chaos!" but more importantly, he was heard being furious at the phone over someone. Later on, it's revealed he was talking to his dad, wondering if he was responsible for the whole sabotage. This indirectly also proves Waternoose III's innocence in the sabotage.
- Red Herring: In earlier episodes, he is shown taking pictures, has a noticeably visible knowledge of the ways of the building, and most importantly, borrowed a set of keys which leads to one of them missing upon returning. And there's that screaming match on the phone. All of this implies he was the one sabotaging the company, but it turns out he's really just a nice guy—the real secret he's hiding is that he's Waternoose's son.
- Repetitive Name: The only thing that's off is the 's' in his surname. Averted for his real name, however.
- The Reveal: He's Waternoose's son, Henry J. Waternoose IV.
- Quirky Ukulele: Carries one and tends to play music and sing.
- Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: He is introduced as a friendly and jovial guy who gets along with everyone. When Tylor and Val start suspecting him of being the one sabotaging Monsters, Inc., they find out he's genuinely a good guy who feels remorse for his father's deeds.
- Tentacled Terror: A multi-eyed, tentacled monster. It's an aspect that prevents him from being associated with his father.
- Walking Spoiler: Hoo boy. There's a lot of him that gets revealed in "Lights! Camera! Chaos!" as well as the many quirky behaviors he gives off in the earlier episodes.
Others
Roze
Voiced by: Bob Peterson Other voice actors
Roz's twin sister, who takes over the job of Laugh Floor F's administrator.- Always Identical Twins: She's a dead ringer for Roz, to the point Mike mistakes her for the CDA leader. However, Roze wears a green shirt, has no glasses or mole on her chin, has a deeper voice, and her hair is dyed pink.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- She may or may not be Roz in disguise all along, as she's absent in the finale when Roz reappears, and Mike explicitly accuses Roz of this in the finale. All Roz does is laugh in a deadpan way as she slithers away.
- Both Roz and Roze appear in "Field of Screams", with Roz serving as umpire for the softball game and Roze serving as Monsters, Inc.'s bus driver to and from the game, but they never appear in the same scene.
- Deadpan Snarker: It seems Roz isn't the only one the family who can master dry wit. However, Roz insists that she is less "bubbly" than her.
- Hypocritical Humor: It's implied she invokes this to mess with Mike, whom she hands a huge stack of paperwork for him to sign, while letting Gary off the hook for failing to file his paperwork the night before.
- Nepotism: Roz uses her authority as the head of the CDA to get the M.I. Board of Directors to give her old job to Roze, though it's heavily implied she did it to mess with Mike. Also, unlike a lot of other examples, Roze is far from incompetent.
- Series Goal: Is described as seeking to succeed where her sister failed and get Mike to file his paperwork.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To her twin sister Roz, as both are Deadpan Snarker slug creatures working as the administrative official of Laugh Floor F that Mike is frightened by. Unlike Roz, however, Roze goes out of her way to actively bother Mike. Still, Mike Lampshades this in "The Big Wazowskis".Mike: You sure you're not Roz?Roze: We're completely different.
- Troll: If the second episode's ending is anything to go by, she enjoys making Mike squirm by interrupting his class with a "Knock Knock" Joke to tell him to knock off the music.Roze: Knock knock.
Mike: Who's there?
Roze: Police.
Mike: Police who?
Roze: Police end this song!
Gary Gibbs
Voiced by: Gabriel Iglesias Other voice actors
Mike's new archnemesis/rival.- The Ace: He gets strikes on four bowling lanes at once.
- Alliterative Name: Gary Gibbs.
- Cephalothorax: Just like Mike, he's basically a head with limbs.
- Cyclops: Again, due to being a lookalike of Mike.
- Deadpan Snarker: He loves mocking Mike in a dry way, such as when he heckles Mike in his comedy class without skipping a beat.
- Foil: To Mike, whom he is a Palette Swap of. While Mike is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who runs Monsters, Inc. and serves as a top Jokester on top of teaching a comedy class, Gary is a Smug Snake who gets his kicks mocking Mike and likes to flaunt his ego just as much as Mike did during his college days. For extra comparison, Roze doesn't like Mike, but she gets along swell with Gary, and is fine with him failing to submit his paperwork while, like her sister before her, constantly asking Mike to file in his.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Inverted. He's the only monster that Roze actually gets along with (though again, it's implied that she's doing it to mess with Mike).
- The Heckler: Assumes this role to troll Mike during his comedy class... precisely when Mike was trying to explain the concept of heckler to his students.
- Jerkass Has a Point: He smugly reminds Mike he can't participate in the bowling tournament since the grand prize is a free dinner at Harryhausens—and Mike and Sulley just got banned from there. Mike doesn't disagree with him, but reveals he used his position to get the ban lifted.
- Palette Swap: He looks identical to Mike, except he has blue skin and a brown eye, and is slightly smaller.
- Phrase Catcher: "Gary…", always said by Mike.
- Tuckerization: He's named after Mary Gibbs, the voice of Boo (and also signed her name on one of Boo's drawings, making it likely that Boo shares her name).
Suzy "Sunny" Sunshine
Voiced by: Paula Pell
Introduced in Season 2, she is a small grey monster who is the Head of the Receiving Station at Monsters, Inc. She's also Cutter's ex-partner.- Ironic Name: Her nickname is "Sunny" and her surname is "Sunshine". She hisses when she's in daylight, and her disposition is anything but sunny.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Pretty cranky and uptight (especially around her ex, Cutter), but she's pretty genial otherwise.
- Looks Like Orlock: Her pointy teeth, eye bags, and pale grey skin give her this look, and she avoids the sunlight like a vampire.
- Serious Business: Takes her position as Head of the Receiving Station deadly seriously, and is quick to make a fuss about a potential leak in the laugh cannisters with MIFT.
- Sixth Ranger: Comes along with MIFT in the Season 2 finale to help foil Johnny's plan.
Skyler
Voiced by: Jimmy Tatro
A dim-witted scarer hired by Fear Co.- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite his stupidity, he takes to being both a competent scarer and jokester.
- Dumb Muscle: Big, brutish, and very low on intelligence.
- Gasshole: He often burps and farts, which he refers to as his "number six". This comes in handy when he becomes a jokester.
- Hulk Speak: He talks in a similar manner to the trope namer, Third Person speak and all. It also helps he's a big guy like the Hulk.
- Third-Person Person: He only refers to himself as "Skyler".
- You No Take Candle: He speaks with poor grammar, reflecting on his low intelligence.
Other Monsters
Argus Blinks
Voiced by: John Michael Higgins
An extremely uptight Investigator from M.E.R.C., the Monstropolis Energy Regulatory Commission.- Determinator: In his twenty years of working with M.E.R.C., he has never taken a single break.
- Lean and Mean: Downplayed. He's extremely thin, but isn't evil or cruel. Just very strict and overly-devoted to his job. More like Lean and Uptight.
- Meaningful Name: He is named after Argus Panoptes from Greek mythology, a monster covered in powerful eyes that allowed him to see all around. This Argus has only one eye, but thanks to his little eye helpers he can see all around him and beyond.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Taking a two-week vacation does wonders for his mood and personality. He still writes up MIFT, but only with a warning.
- Workaholic: To the extent of not taking a single day off in 20 years. After MIFT sends him on a two-week vacation, he lightens up considerably.
Thalia Flint
Voiced by: Hadley Gannaway
The daughter of Ms. Flint, she is a rather intelligent child who loves her mother but seems to be disinterested in her line of work.- Adorably Precocious Child: She is quite smart for someone her age, knowing and being very bothered by the fact that Tylor is not the first monster to attempt to use her to get close to her mom to earn a Scarer or Jokester position.
- At Least I Admit It: Inverted; she says that many monsters have tried to use her to get in good with her mother before, but Tylor was the first one to admit it to her face and apologize for it, which earns him her respect.
- Little Miss Snarker: Definitely inherited her mother's dry wit.
- When She Smiles: When she finally laughs because of Tylor it is adorable. Ms. Flint sees footage of this moment and is amazed that Tylor managed to get her daughter to smile.
Jack and Jill
Voiced by: Joe Lo Truglio (Jack), Ali Wong (Jill)
Two news anchors that host i scream! u scream!- Blonde Republican Sex Kitten: Jill is a monster version, having actually blonde hair and supporting the traditional Fear-based power over the newer "alternative" laugh-based power, deriding it like a conservative pundit would to carbon-neutral energy.
- Big Sister Bully: Jill constnatly insults and belittles Jack.
- Confirmation Bias: In-Universe, Jill has already made up her mind about laugh power, and refuses to give Sulley a chance to defend it during news interviews.
- Creepy Centipedes: Downplayed. They are a giant centipede-like monster but aren't that scary.
- Fox News Liberal: Jack genuinely supports the newer Laugh-based energy, citing scientific studies in support. However his sister is so domineering that he barely gets to make his points on their show.
- Half-Identical Twins: Zigzagged. They don't look to similar outside having one eye and similar skin, however they are somehow different genders despite being conjoined twins.
- Immoral Journalist: Jill is clearly biased against Sulley, to the point she gives him little chance to speak, accuses him of using an untested form of energy, and downright assassinates his character by pointing out his expulsion from college and mentorship under the now-disgraced Waternoose.
- Lean and Mean: Jill is much skinnier than jack also a lot more judgemental and rude.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Jill is rude and supports fear-based power, while Jack is more open minded and supports laugh-based power.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: One thing they both agree on is that Waternoose's plan to kidnap human children and extract their screams was horrendous.Jack: We may be monsters, but we're not monsters.
Fear Co.
Joy
Voiced by: Janelle James
- The Bully: She constantly demeans all her other co-workers, even making Skyler cry.
- Hate Sink: She's a rude arrogant bully who is openly hostile to her co-workers, and gives the audience a reason to root for Tylor to out-scare her. And despite her bluster, she was quick to fold when Fritz (as Frankie Rigatoni) stood up to her, ultimately showing her as a coward who picks on those she deems as weaker.
- Hated by All: All of her co-workers despise her for her bullying and they all bet on Tylor to beat her on the leaderboard.
- Ironic Name: She revels in the suffering and humiliation of others yet is called "Joy".
- The Lad-ette: She has an agressive personality, and refers to Tylor as "bro" in one instance.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: She looks like a six-limbed reptilian eel.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She looks and behaves remarkably similar to Randal Boggs, both being highly competitive scarers that are also six-limbed reptillians.
- Super Spit: She spits fire.
Declan
Voiced by: Richard Ayoade
A shift supervisor of FearCo who looks remarkably like Duncan but with a mustache and goatee and has an English accent.- Faux Affably Evil: He is much more polite than his Monsters, Inc. counterpart, but he's in on Johnny's scheme of stealing laugh power from Monsters, Inc. and combining it with scream power to power Monstropolis on behalf of FearCo.
- Foil: Duncan is a low-level employee working in facilities who desires to be the leader of his department. He's rude and annoying to his co-workers and irrationally antagonizes Tylor. Declan is a leader in his department—the Scare Floor, no less—and comes across as much more polite and genial. However, Declan doesn't have much genuine empathy for anyone else while Duncan cares for his pet Roto and his mother very much. Declan is also working with Johnny on selling the lie about the scream amplifier, not caring about the consequences of what would happen to Monstropolis when the mixture of scream and laugh power is used, while Duncan is willing to work with his team—Tylor included—to stop the impending disaster.
- Identical Stranger: Looks almost exactly like Duncan, bar the mustache, goatee and accent. It works in MIFT's favor, as their Duncan can easily impersonate him when the team try to stop them from mixing scream and laugh power together.
Humans
Snore
Voiced by: Michaela Dietz
A human baby whom the monsters have to take from her room in order to fix her room without her parents noticing.- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Snore is very much like Boo. She is a human baby who ends up in the monster world while having to be looked after by Mike and Sulley. To top it all off, she is given a Paper-Thin Disguise much like Boo. The difference is that Mike is the one who looks after her with Sulley assisting. It's heavily implied that this is very obvious to Mike In-Universe too, which is part of the reason he volunteers to be the one to look after her, rather than Sulley, so his friend doesn't bond with and suffer more heartbreak over parting with another human child so soon after his experience with Boo, whom, as the first film's epilogue showed, Sulley is still heartbroken over parting with.
Ben
Voiced by: Alan Kim
A child in Season 2 that Tylor visits often.- Bookends: He is introduced at the start of Season 2 as one of the kids Tylor regularly visits as a Jokester to make laugh. The season ends with Tylor and Val, now a comedy duo, visiting him again.
- Break the Cutie: In "Decent into Fear", Tylor scares him, which flat-out terrifies him and reduces him to tears, triggering Tylor's Heroic BSoD.
- Chekhov's Gunman: He was introduced in the first episode of Season 2, and later comes back in the last two episodes of the season. In "Decent into Fear", Tylor, now working at Fear Co. is forced by his co-workers to scare him to beat Joy's score on the leaderboard. Then in "Powerless", Tylor visits him with Val to apologize to him and demonstrate to the monster world how making kids laugh is better than scaring them.
- Contrasting Replacement Character: Is one to Boo. Both serve as a way for both Sulley and Tylor to realize that scaring kids really isn't the best method.
- Interspecies Friendship: Since Tylor is his designated Jokester, the two have built up a fairly friendly rapport even as Tylor struggles to get him to laugh. Tylor scaring him while working under Fear Co. causes him to be horrified at himself and disillusioned at the idea of scaring.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Although he's much older than Boo was he does play a similar role to her in that he forms an Interspecies Friendship with a monster, in his case Tylor, Tylor scaring him to the point of tears leads to Tylor realizing just how horrible being a Scarer actually is like Sulley realized with Boo, and the two make amends when Tylor apologizes to him.
