History Characters / Soul

* AnimalMotifs: When they happily declare themselves a mindless follower, the symbol on their chest changes into a sheep.

Moonwind is a mystic who helps lost souls in the Zone get over their obsessions.

* HippieName: The hippie crew that helps Joe in the afterlife are named Moonwind, Windstar, Dancerstar, and Dreamerwind.

* YouAreNumber6: She is the 22nd soul to be made in the Great Before.

* PlanetOfSteves: All the Counselors have named themselves "Jerry" for convenience to mortal souls. Even Joe [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]].

* IronicNickname: Curley is a funny nickname for a bald guy. He did have a full head of curly hair back when he was Joe’s student though.

* BackFromTheDead: His primary goal after his accident, where he’s merely separated from his body and hasn’t been clinically declared dead yet. [[spoiler:This gets into a snag after an accident causes him to possess Mittens the therapy cat and 22 ends up in his body. At the end, the Jerrys give him one more chance after he gave 22 his only way back to Earth, albeit with a stern warning to just be more aware of his surroundings.]]

* CoolTeacher: He appears to be very well-liked as a teacher by the students and staff. His former student even admits the only reason he showed up to school was because of him. [[spoiler: When he is recounting his memories near the end, we see him giving said student private lessons and encouraging his skills as a drummer.]]

** The entire thrust of Joe's journey is how he assumes a person's "spark" is their purpose in life and "piano is what I was born to do." It takes both a Jerry laughing at the idea and [[spoiler: the big night of his dreams not giving him the fulfillment he thought he needed]] for Joe to realize he's been mixing the two up.

[[folder:[=22=]]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/22_84.png]]

* {{Hikikomori}}: She would rather stay in her room inside the Great Before for all eternity than to live a life on Earth as one of the Counselors had to drag her out of her room just for her to attend the mentoring section. [[spoiler:{{Deconstructed}} in that after many years of not finding a spark, she doesn't think she's good enough for life on Earth, and gives up on trying to live a life there. Once she ''does'' find her spark, Joe lashes out on her stating she only got a spark because she was in the body of someone who already has a spark in the first place. This ends up causing 22 to lower her self-esteem even further, give him her own earth pass, and become a [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Lost Soul]] due to how she believes she is better off living in the Great Before. Fortunately, Joe was able to come back, and snap her out of it.]]
* HisOwnWorstEnemy: The climax reveals [[spoiler: this is the case with 22. The reason all her previous mentors have never been able to help her find her spark was because she pushed them away out of self-doubt that she's not good enough to have a life. It takes Joe to get through to 22 and help her come out of her shell.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: One of the many reasons why she doesn't want to have a life on Earth is because, as a newborn soul with no body, she can't feel anything (no taste, no smell, no touch, etc.) even when her hypothetical life is simulated, something that even Joe complained about. It's only [[spoiler: after accidentally entering in Joe's body, that she starts to enjoy every simple thing of life on Earth]].

* NoSocialSkills: [[spoiler: As Joe. Justified as she's never had an actual life before and doesn't have any concept of typical norms, resulting in her running around town in nothing but a hospital gown, openly talking about her experiences in the Great Before with people, and generally making Joe look like he has lost his marbles.]]

* StickyFingers: [[spoiler: As Joe, she has a habit of swiping mundane things that interest her, such as a bunch of suckers or a spool of thread. This is exaggerated in a deleted scene, where her home is shown to have colossal card houses and a row of arcade machines inside of it in addition to what's shown in the actual movie, leading Joe to ask whether she's stolen all of it. Her reply is [[VerbalBackspace "no… maybe"]], adding that other than forcing her to attend the weekly You Seminars so that she could eventually get her Earth Badge, the Jerrys don't really care what she does in the meantime.]]

-->'''Joe''': "Is everyone here named Jerry?"

* PetTheDog: They immediately apologize to Paul for mistaking him for Joe, and they even give him advice about how he can live longer (i.e. not eating too much processed food).

!!Moonwind’s Crew
[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_2306.jpeg]]

Other spiritually attuned people who help Moonwind.

* AdvertisedExtra: He became this through the movie's date changes to practically being a WalkingSpoiler. Later trailers, merchandise, and products for the movie would lead you to believe he somehow becomes a member of a tram of three with Joe and 22 or is actually Joe's pet cat. Of course, [[spoiler: Joe does spend a decent amount of the film in Mr. Mittens' body, so Mittens is physically a large role]]. In fact, given Joe [[spoiler: appears in both human and soul forms on the poster, you can interpret Mr. Mittens as representing Joe himself]].

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He is genuinely remorseful for mistaking Paul for Joe, and provides as much comfort, and encouragement to stop his bad dietary lifestyle, as possible.

[[folder:22]]

* MagicalAsian: Moonwind and his crew are human mystics who are in touch with the spirit world. Two of them are a man meditating in the Philippines and a woman playing an instrument in Tibet. [[TheRuntAtTheEnd The last to explain is a "shamanic healer" in California.]] In the comic adaptation of the movie, Dancerstar comes from Quebec.

* AnimalGenderBender: Like Mochi in ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'', he's a male calico cat. Such a thing is technically possible but very rare.

* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:After Joe helps 22 regain her spark for life, they all decide to award him with a second chance and let him go back to Earth.]]

* ControlFreak: They want to keep their soul count perfectly on track, to the point of going to extreme lengths whenever a soul makes their count off. They're implied to have some kind of SuperOCD.

* IronicName: Curley is a funny nickname for a bald guy. He did have a full head of curly hair back when he was Joe’s student though.

* EveryoneHasStandards: As desperate as he is to get back to Earth, Joe refuses to let 22's spark for the Earth pass to be fire, therefore creating an future {{Pyromaniac}}. So he quickly changes to another option once 22 becomes a little too fascinated of the fire they were supposed to take out.

* AmbiguousGender: While 22 is [[Creator/TinaFey played by]] and [[WordOfGod referred to by cast]] as female for the sake of clarity, 22 doesn't technically have a gender yet, and demonstrates how she can alter her voice (and presumably her perceived gender) by mimicking a young child, an old man, and Joe himself, adding that she sticks with the voice she's currently using [[SidekickCreatureNuisance because it irritates everybody around her]]. The same goes for the Jerrys (voiced by both men and women) and Terry, as they aren't referred to by any gender.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In-universe, when Joe inadvertently bodyjacks it, he and 22 wonder what that means for the cat. Cue a CutawayGag to the cat's soul meowing confusedly on the conveyor to the Great Beyond. Apparently, it never went through or was recovered, because it seems just fine when everyone is set right later. WordOfGod stated in an interview that the soul ended up going to the Great Beyond, but that [[CatsHaveNineLives cats have nine of them]] so it wasn't a huge loss. This was originally going to be clarified in the movie but was cut for time.

* StickyFingers: [[spoiler: As Joe, she has a habit of swiping mundane things that interest her, such as a bunch of suckers or a spool of thread. This is TakenUpToEleven in a deleted scene, where her home is shown to have colossal card houses and a row of arcade machines inside of it in addition to what's shown in the actual movie, leading Joe to ask whether she's stolen all of it. Her reply is [[VerbalBackspace "no… maybe"]], adding that other than forcing her to attend the weekly You Seminars so that she could eventually get her Earth Badge, the Jerrys don't really care what she does in the meantime.]]

* AmbiguousGender: While 22 is [[Creator/TinaFey played by]] and [[WordOfGod referred to by cast]] as female for the sake of clarity, 22 doesn't Technically have a gender yet, and demonstrates how she can alter her voice (and presumably her perceived gender) by mimicking a young child, an old man, and Joe himself, adding that she sticks with the voice she's currently using [[SidekickCreatureNuisance because it irritates everybody around her]]. The same goes for the Jerrys (voiced by both men and women) and Terry, as they aren't referred to by any gender.

* NiceHat: He has a very snazzy-looking fedora.