History Characters / TheJungleBook2016

* AdaptationalVillainy: Shere Khan's portrayal is significantly darker than in the original film. He still wishes to kill Mowgli, but is more psychotic and vicious and lacks the charming and affable nature that he had in the original film. [[spoiler:He kills Akela for refusing his demands to give Mowgli to him, and it is later revealed that he also killed Mowgli's biological father while the original Shere Khan ever killed any humans or animals except for food. And he implies to Raksha that he will kill her pups as petty vengeance for allowing Mowgli to escape his wrath. The original could be seen as an AntiVillain who had a good reason for hating men whereas this version kills for sport]]. All in all, he is an AxCrazy [[TheSociopath sociopath]] rather than the FauxAffablyEvil his original counterpart was, even at his worst.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Very calm and polite, but still an absolute savage, even by jungle standards. Best seen when he visits the wolf pack, where he [[spoiler:casually lounges with Akela, murders him, and that same night ''plays with his cubs'']].

* FieryRedhead: He's pretty fast to ditch his FauxAffablyEvil demeanour when Mowgli frustrates him.

* AffablyEvil: Despite attempting to eat Mowgli, she ''does'' tell him the truth about his past despite not needing to and sounds disgusted with Shere Khan killing his father. She also acts very polite toward Mowgli, and seems to try to make her eating of him a MercyKill (though the latter [[FauxAffablyEvil may just be her trying to lure Mowgli into a false sense of security before eating him]]).

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Her tone suggests that even she doesn't seem to approve of Shere Khan [[spoiler:murdering Mowgli's father for sport, than for food]]. She's also not a fan of man's red flower, as despite its beauty, destroys everything in its path.
* GenderFlip: Kaa is a female in this version.

* PetTheDog: Despite having it in mind to kill Mowgli, she does show his past to him and tries to make his death more like a MercyKill, before she's stopped.

* SnakesAreSexy: Especially when they're voiced by Scarlett Johansson. While not explicitly sexualized, Kaa's soothing voice gives some undertones of this.

* TheDreaded: When he shows up at the water truce, every single animal goes silent and gets out of his way. It's also clear that his fearsome reputation is down to him personally rather than his species; when Mowgli tells Baloo, who is more than capable of defending himself against formidable enemies like Kaa, that he's being hunted by a tiger, Baloo is unconcerned. When Bagheera later clarifies that the tiger in question is Shere Khan, [[OhCrap Baloo's attitude changes immediately]].

->'''Portrayed by:''' Neel Sethi

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/BillMurray (original), Creator/LambertWilson (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/BenKingsley

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/LupitaNyongo

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/GiancarloEsposito

->'''Voiced by:''' Brighton Rose

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/IdrisElba

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ChristopherWalken

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ScarlettJohansson

->'''Portrayed by:''' Ritesh Rajan

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RussellPeters

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/DeeBradleyBaker

* JerkassToOne: While he is more on the stern side in general, Bagheeravis usually polite in his interactions with the other jungle inhabitants. The moment he lays eyes on Baloo however, he has nothing but scorn and snide remarks for the bear, and it takes a good part of the movie for Baloo to rise in his esteem.

* CatsAreSuperior: Downplayed. He mainly exhibits this attitude around Baloo, whom he deeply disdains for a good part of the movie. Subsequently, the bear is also the recipient of most of Bagheera's snark. In a more heroic fashion, Bagheera goes to great lenghts to assure Mowgli's safety, because he doesn't think the boy is strong enough to take on Shere Khan.

* CatsAreSuperior: Downplayed. He mainly exhibits this attitude around Baloo, whom he deeply disdains for a good part of the movie. Subsequently, the bear is also the recipient of most of Bagheera's snark. In a more heroic fashion, Bagheera goes to great lenghts to assure Mowgli's safety, because he doesn't think the boy strong enough to take on Shere Khan.

* UndyingLoyalty: To Mowgli.

* OddFriendship: His relationship with Mowgli. At least the other jungle animals think so. He seems to develop this with Bagheera as well. He is also friends with the wolf pack at the end of the film, but YMMV on if that is odd or not.

* AdvertisedExtra: She only has one scene in the film [[spoiler:before Baloo attacks her and saves Mowgli]].

* SnakesAreSexy: Especially when they're voiced by Scarlett Johansson.

* CanonForeigner: Rocky did not appear in the original book, he was dropped from the 1967 film. He was to appear in the vulture sequence and would have been voiced by Frank Fontaine. He was to be animated by Milt Kahl before the character was ultimately dropped from the story. He was eventually used in the 2016 live action adaptation.

* ContraltoOfDanger: She's voiced by Scarlett Johansson. This comes with the territory.

* CatsHateWater: While pursuing the Bandar-Log, Bagheera comes across a big, wild river, and immediately freezes. Only when Baloo jumps in, does the panther cross it by using the bear to jump on. Justified, in that the river was to wide for Bagheera to leap over, and that its current was probably strong enough to cause him serious trouble. The novelization also reveals that Bagheera [[spoiler: almost drowned in a river when he was young, so he was likely traumatized by that experience]].

->'''Portrayed by:''' Neel Sethi

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/BillMurray (original), Creator/LambertWilson (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/BenKingsley

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/LupitaNyongo

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/GiancarloEsposito

->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/ScarlettJohansson

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jungle_book_2016_disneyscreencapscom_845_5.jpg]]

* BadassBaritone: Well, he ''is'' a rhinoceros. We never see him do anything badass, though.

* BadassBaritone: Creator/IdrisElba gives Shere Khan a truly chilling growl, comparable to Creator/KeithDavid's performance as [[WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}} Goliath]].

* BadassInCharge: Implied. In the book it was clearly stated that Shere Khan would have never challenged the Free People when Akela was in charge and this is referenced in the film, albeit subtly. See WorthyOpponent. [[spoiler:Shere Khan only killed him when he was able to get him in a one-on-one situation, and his death is a big shock to those who hear about it. Khan even uses his murder of the wolf to instill fear throughout the jungle.]]

** In the film, Baloo is referred to as a sloth bear by Bagheera, which is the same species that he is mentioned to be in the '67 animated version. However in the film, he visually resembles a Himalayan brown bear in order to be truer to the original Kipling novels (which specifically calls him a brown bear rather than a sloth bear, but otherwise his physical description fits the latter) and make him more visually impressive on-screen, although that species does not exist in the Seoni region of India that the film is set in.

* FragileSpeedster: He is a fast and agile feline, but he can't compete with the likes of Baloo and Shere Khan in brute strength.

* HundredPercentAdorationRating: His entire Bandar-Log seems to both adore and fear him. [[spoiler:When the temple collapses on him, the entire monkey clan starts digging him out.]]

* AnimalsNotToScale: She's an unnaturally large snake. Her age may have contributed to this, since snakes never stop growing throughout their lives.

* AdaptationSpeciesChange: His species has been switched from orangutan to ''Gigantopithecus'' because, unlike orangutans, the extinct ape genus was native to India, at least in prehistory. That said, [[http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/259 orangutans also occurred in India in prehistoric times]]. And he still ''looks'' like an orangutan, for what it's worth.

* AdaptationalSeriousness: Unlike her animated male counterpart, this Kaa is less comedic and fun, thanks to having the serious voice of Creator/ScarlettJohansson. The meeting between Mowgli and Kaa is Definitely not played for laughs.

* AdaptationalSeriousness: Unlike her animated male counterpart, this Kaa is less comedic and fun, thanks to having the serious voice of Creator/ScarlettJohansson. The meeting between Mowgli and Kaa is not for nothing by PlayedForLaughs.