History Characters / Matilda

* WomenAreWiser: Book only, Mrs. Wormwood is marginally more rational than her husband; Mrs. Wormwood herself says something akin to this to Matilda.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Obviously she's struck by this at the end, but ''much'' more evident in the movie than in the book.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: One of the people Mr. Wormwood scams is Ms. Trunchbull. If one knew what she is actually like, they'd say being scammed out of a large sum of money was the ''least'' she deserved. Unfortunately, [[MisplacedRetribution Trunchbull vented her anger on poor Matilda...]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Subverted in the movie. She's angry at Harry for the lemon he's sold her... but [[SinsOfOurFathers takes her anger out on Matilda instead]]. Played straight later when she threatens him over the phone. You'd almost want her to go through with it.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: In the book, Hortensia is noted for having a large boil on her nose. The movie omits the boil and makes her a dark-skinned blond for good measure.

-->'''Matilda:''' Was he okay?\\

* EvilAunt: [[spoiler:To Miss Honey, being her maternal aunt. She was physically abusive to her niece with at least one incident resulting in her breaking the girl's arm. She eventually took over the house with Miss Honey leaving for her own safety. It's implied in the movie that she killed Miss Honey's father, leaving his young daughter in her cruel aunt's care. Even with Miss Honey all grown up, Trunchbull still maintains control over her niece through threats and acts of intimidation.]]

* EvilCounterpart: To Miss Honey. Both are adult teachers who work with children, but Honey is a FriendToAllChildren, while Trunchbull hates children and only wants to hurt them.

'''Hortensia:''' After being thrown out the window? Of course he wasn't okay. He lived, if ''that's'' what you mean.

* NoodleIncident: She's been in the Chokey at least six times, once for pouring Golden Syrup on the seat of the Trunchbull's chair and another for pouring itching powder in her breeches. What she did to earn the other four sentences are a mystery for the ages.
** In the movie, she was only sent to the Chokey twice for unknown reasons, which was implied to be DisproportionateRetribution.

* DirtyCoward: Downplayed, but when her prank of putting a newt in the Trunchbull's water jug is pinned on Matilda by the principal, she doesn't try to defend her friend. In the novel, the narrator mentions that Lavender felt bad for Matilda as she didn't mean to cause her trouble, but wasn't willing to confess either.

* DirtyCoward: Her joke of putting a newt on the Trunchbull's water jar nearly leads Matilda to be expelled. In the novel, the narrator mentions that Lavender felt bad for Matilda, as she didn't want to cause her trouble but wasn't willing to confess either.
* DisabledInTheAdaptation: Downplayed. She wears glasses in the movie, but her book counterpart doesn't.

* RaceLift: She is White in the book, but is Black in the movie. In the musical, she is colorblind-cast.

* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: One possible interpretation of her, since she had been going to school at Crunchem Hall for several years by the time Matilda started there. This might explain why she acts callously to Matilda and Lavender in the book.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Gives advice to newbie Matilda about Trunchbull and how to avoid her wrath. Although she's a NiceGirl only in the movie, since this is averted in the book, where she looks down on Matilda and Lavender and even insults them, though she still gives advice on Trunchbull.
* LittleMissSnarker: In the movie, after telling Matilda about how Trunchbull [[DisproportionateRetribution hurled a kid out of class for eating candy]].

** When Trunchbull throws a little girl across the schoolyard by her pigtails, Hortensia's first comment is "[[ComicallyMissingThePoint Good loft!]]"

* NoSympathy: When she sees Amanda about to get punished by the Trunchbull, she just comments to Matilda and Lavender that the other girl is an idiot for wearing pigtails when she knows the Trunchbull hates them.
* OldSoldier: From Matilda's and Lavender's point of view, she is one for surviving the school of horrors that is Crunchem Hall Primary. She was locked in the Chokey at least six times during her first term, and in the book, when recounting the pranks she played on the Trunchbull, she is said to speak with "the air of an old warrior who has been in so many battles that bravery has become commonplace."

* AscendedExtra: In the book she's only mentioned in the pigtails moment. In the movie she appears in more scenes.

* TrueBlueFemininity: Amanda is described as wearing blue hair ribbons in the book. In the movie, she's mostly dressed in [[PinkIsFeminine pink]].

* AmbiguousSituation: We never do find out if he was actually guilty of stealing a slice of chocolate cake from the Trunchbull's kitchen. Hortensia mentions that when an offense has been committed and the Trunchbull doesn't know who did it, she accuses whoever she thinks did it and doesn't look for proof. But then again, Bruce proves himself to be a BigEater capable of finishing an entire chocolate cake in one sitting...

* OldSoldier: From Matilda's and Lavender's point of view, she is one for surviving the school of horrors that is Crunchem Hall. She was locked in the Chokey at least six times during her first term, and in the book, when recounting the pranks she played on the Trunchbull, she is said to speak with "the air of an old warrior who has been in so many battles that bravery has become commonplace."

* AgeLift: In the book and the film, he's an older boy of about eleven, but in the musical, he's Matilda's age and one of her classmates.

* AmbiguousSituation: We never do find out if he was actually guilty of stealing a slice of chocolate cake from the Trunchbull's kitchen. Hortensia mentions that when an offense has been committed and the Trunchbull doesn't know who did it, she accuses whoever she thinks did it and doesn't look for proof. But then again, Bruce proves himself to be a BigEater capable of eating an entire chocolate cake in one sitting...

* AmbiguousSituation: We never do find out if he was actually guilty of stealing a slice of chocolate cake from the Trunchbull's kitchen. Hortensia mentions that when an offense has been committed and the Trunchbull doesn't know who did it, she accuses whoever she thinks did it and doesn't look for proof.

** In the book, after Matilda collapses from practicing her telekinetic powers for the first time, Mrs. Wormwood shows some concern towards her and asks if she's ill.

** In the book, after Matilda collapses from practicing her telekinetic powers for the first time, Mrs. Wormwood shows some concern towards her.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: It's not touched on that much, but Mr. Wormwood in the book has a few lines of dialogue showing him to be prejudiced against Americans. Notably, the book he defaces is ''Literature/TheRedPony'' by Creator/JohnSteinbeck because according to him, American authors only write about filth.

** In the book, he tears apart Matilda's library book out of envy (and because [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain it was written by an American]]), whereas in the film, he did it because he thought she was reading pornography.[[note]]For context, the book Matilda was reading in the film was ''Literature/MobyDick'', and not ''Literature/TheRedPony'' like in the book.[[/note]]

* {{Hypocrite}}: During the car dealership scene, he says "The Feds want to test the ingenuity of the American businessman." This coming from a guy who runs an HonestJohnsDealership.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: One of the people Mr. Wormwood scams is Ms. Trunchbull. If one knew what she is actually like, they'd say being scammed out of a large sum of money was the ''least'' she deserved. Unfortunately, Trunchbull vented her anger on poor Matilda...

* MeaningfulName: The Wormwoods (Matilda excluded) are as sleazy as they come.
** The name is also a metaphor for bitterness, to go with their being unpleasant [[spoiler:and to contrast with [[HappilyAdopted Miss Honey]]]].