History Characters / ThePinkPanther

!!CharacterSheet for ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther''.

[[/index]]

%%
%%
%% Zero-Context Example entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Please add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
%%
%%
For characters specific to the [[WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther animated shorts/series]], go [[Characters/PinkPanther here]].
----
[[foldercontrol]]
!The Original Films

!!!Main Characters

[[folder:Inspector Clouseau]]
!!Inspector Jacques Clouseau
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/inspector_clouseau1007_5197.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Well, until we meet again and the case is sol-ved!"'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/PeterSellers (most of the original series), Creator/AlanArkin (''Inspector Clouseau''), Daniel Peacock (''Trail''; flashbacks), Creator/RogerMoore (''Curse''), Andy Scourfield (''Son''; ghost)
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/ThePinkPanther1963'' | ''Film/AShotInTheDark'' | ''Inspector Clouseau'' | ''Film/TheReturnOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain'' | ''Film/RevengeOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/CurseOfThePinkPanther''

A French Sûreté detective who fancies himself the greatest detective in the world, as well as a martial arts expert and master of disguise. Egotistical and arrogant, he is (apparently) blind to his general incompetence in all of his chosen fields of expertise. However, he is so focused on upholding law and order that, more often than not, he is successful despite himself and those who would stand in his way. He is fanatically patriotic and sets the interests of France before everything else, having fought in the French Resistance during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. He eventually becomes ''Chief'' Inspector in the original series, and he'll be the first to remind you of his full title.
----
* AccidentalHero: He manages to accidentally '''save the world''' in ''Strikes Again'' after his concerted efforts to stop Dreyfus's scheme all fail. He also saves Simone Legree in ''Revenge'' because he and Cato are in the right place at the right time (they're trying to see into a night club just as baddies are spiriting her out of it).
* BreakoutCharacter: He was just a secondary character in the first movie, but Sellers' interpretation was so good that Clouseau became the main character of the entire franchise and an iconic character in general.
* CassandraTruth: In ''Revenge'', an escaped transvestite thief forces Clouseau to give up his clothes and the car he's driving. The thief drives into the trap Douvier's men have set up for Clouseau and is killed. The real Clouseau, forced to wear the thief's female clothing, is mistaken for the thief and captured by authorities who don't believe his story -- especially as word spreads that Clouseau has been killed! Ultimately, he stops trying to convince others he's the real deal in favor of escaping the asylum he's sent to and from there turning the situation to his advantage (if everyone believes he's dead, then he can go undercover to figure out who wanted him dead...).
* ClassicalAntihero: He's terminally foolish and clumsy, but his sheer determination to win the day for good helps see him through time and time again.
* CluelessDetective and InspectorOblivious: Depending on the situation, he's one or the other.
* {{Determinator}}: Clouseau will not quit! This is the reason why Dreyfus detests Clouseau, even if the former is ordered to let it go.
** If there is one thing you can commend Clouseau for, it's that he never quits until he gets his man. Sir Charles himself sites this as the true key to Clouseau's success (as he certainly didn't believe it was Clouseau's brain) in ''Trail''.
-->'''Charles:''' [Clouseau] was a fool but he epitomized the 11th Commandment.
-->'''Marie Jouvet:''' The 11th Commandment?
-->'''Charles:''' "Thou shalt not give up".
* DreadfulMusician: Another thing he isn't good at is playing the violin (in the first film).
* TheDulcineaEffect: Drives his actions in ''A Shot in the Dark''.
* {{Flanderization}}: Clouseau's accent gets more impenetrable and the havoc the slapstick wreaks goes up exponentially as the original series progresses. However, his character doesn't suffer for this, and it didn't hurt the reception of the series with audiences.
* TheFool: Heavens, yes. His karma is a force to be reckoned with as a result.
* FunnyForeigner: A funny Frenchman, to be precise; his disguises as other nationalities are equally ridiculous.
* GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity: Gets suspended or transferred by Dreyfus for his bungling on multiple occasions, but is invariably put back on the job within a scene or two due to pressure from above insisting that he work a specific case.
* HeroAntagonist: Has this role in the first film, as a foil to Sir Charles' VillainProtagonist.
* IconicOutfit: Pictured. He first wears it in ''A Shot in the Dark''.
* IdiotHero: Very much the TropeCodifier. He's a buffoon, but his actions almost always inadvertently result in him saving the day.
* IdiotHoudini: Despite his destructive antics, he seems to get away without facing any major consequences.
* InvincibleIncompetent: He is a shining example, combined with BatDeduction in that his profoundly stupid and illogical actions often save him and/or destroy his attacker and/or solve the case he's supposed to be working on. Many skilled assassins try to kill him, but Clouseau inevitably survives by some absurd accident, almost always unknowingly killing the assassin(s) in the process. All for the sake of RuleOfFunny, of course.
* IronButtMonkey: Example -- in ''Strikes Again'', showing off on parallel bars on the second floor of a house sends him falling to the first floor. He gets up, dusts himself off and crows "Ah! That felt ''good''!"
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Clouseau is an arrogant man and believes enough in his own brilliance and rightness that he often misses the obvious. This also contributes to his chronic clumsiness. (Sellers himself saw Clouseau as a man who knows he's an idiot but is determined not to let anyone else find out.) But he is genuinely on the side of good, is chivalrous with women to the point of unfounded faith (he was betrayed by his own wife), conducts himself with all the dignity he can muster, and as ''Trail'' points out, he ''never gives up''. As pointed out on the KarmaHoudini page, it was perhaps this that made the character so sympathetic to audiences.
* KavorkaMan: With his average looks, staggering idiocy and borderline fatal clumsiness, one would be amazed that Clouseau can get one woman to fall for him. Yet Clouseau has won the hearts of no less than three (Maria Gambrelli in ''A Shot in The Dark''[[note]]their relationship even produced a child[[/note]], [[SensualSlavs Olga Bariosova]] in ''The Pink Panther Strikes Again'', [[SexySecretary Simone Legree]] in ''Revenge of the Pink Panther'' and [[spoiler:Countess Chandra in ''Curse of The Pink Panther''.]]
* TheKlutz: Tellingly, his EstablishingCharacterMoment in the original series has him taking a pratfall when he rests his hand on a still-spinning globe after declaring "We must find that woman!"
* LargeHam: Most of the time, owing to his need to command any important situation (and many unimportant ones). His grandiose gestures often backfire on him, though.
* {{Leitmotif}}: The gently bumbling [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh8eysaqEEI Inspector Clouseau Theme]], an understated but fitting accompaniment for Clouseau's antics.
* {{Malaproper}} and PoirotSpeak: Clouseau's unique speech patterns stem from a combination of these tropes. His accent is so thick it verges on JustAStupidAccent in the 1970s entries, and this occasionally leads to him ''apparently'' saying one word while intending another, because other characters do not understand it. He sometimes swaps words or consonant sounds in a phrase as well: "a rit of fealous jage", "Sir Charles Phantom, the notorious Lytton", etc.
* MasterOfDisguise: He fancies himself as this, but the results vary from [[WigDressAccent disguise to disguise]].
* ObfuscatingStupidity: {{Subverted|Trope}} -- it's revealed in ''Revenge'' that most people think his success is due to this, rather than his actually being TheFool.
* PoliceAreUseless: His introductory scene in ''Return'' is a particularly good example -- his argument with a "blind" beggar who's the lookout for bank robbers allows them to rob the bank without any trouble. When the bank manager comes out of it to pursue them, he's the one Clouseau knocks out.
* {{Pornstache}}: In all incarnations he has a very thick moustache.
* PutOnABus: He's put on one halfway through ''Trail''. [[spoiler:''Curse'' reveals that he was wooed by the jewel's new "owner", did a FaceHeelTurn, and got MagicPlasticSurgery to resemble -- and be played by -- Roger Moore and live with her undisturbed.]]
* LaResistance: He was in the French Resistance in World War II according to ''Strikes Again'', and there's a flashback to that time in ''Trail''. In trying to blow up a bridge the Germans were crossing, he instead wound up in yet another non-fatal explosion.
* SignificantBirthDate: As an in-joke in ''Trail'', his birthday is said to be September 8. This is Creator/PeterSellers' birthday.
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: In the first movie.
* TheUnintelligible: He is frequently asked to repeat himself due to other characters' inability to decipher his accent.
* WalkingDisasterArea: Most of the films' humor comes from the hilarious amount of destruction and misfortune that Clouseau causes just by existing. In the second film of the original series, Dreyfus claims that with ten Clouseaus he could destroy the entire planet; this is ''not'' said as a compliment. In ''Strikes Again'', Dreyfus states that [[DeathRay the doomsday weapon]] he is threatening the planet with is "a water pistol" compared to Clouseau.
* WhatTheFuAreYouDoing: His "training sessions" with Cato.
* YouSayTomato: A standard part of Peter Sellers' Clouseau shtick from ''A Shot in the Dark'' onwards (he once tries to pick up a "massage" at the front desk of a hotel).
----
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Cato]]
!!Cato Fong
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/katofong_893.png]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/BurtKwouk
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/AShotInTheDark'' | ''Film/TheReturnOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain'' | ''Film/RevengeOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/CurseOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/SonOfThePinkPanther''

Clouseau's Chinese manservant holds a variety of duties but chief among them is springing surprise martial arts attacks on his boss at ''any and all'' hours -- not to mention places -- as Clouseau wants to be prepared for anything he may encounter in the pursuit of justice.
----
* BattleButler: Inverted in that his ''first'' duty is battling. (Beyond that, he is a butler, valet, and even chef for Clouseau.)
* ADayInTheLimelight: In most of the films he only appears in two or three scenes, but he has a much bigger role in ''Revenge''.
* DisguisedInDrag: At the end of ''Return'', Clouseau decides to have dinner at a Japanese restaurant to get a break from Cato's attacks. Cato manages to ambush him anyway -- by masquerading as a female waitress.
* HypercompetentSidekick: He is fully aware that he is this, but doesn't let Clouseau realize it. He admits in the ''Trail''/''Curse'' duet that he isn't completely unhappy that his boss has gone missing, as Cato was the one who usually got hurt in their fights, but having had that job for so long, he does miss it a bit. (Between the two films, he even establishes a Clouseau museum in the old apartment.) When Clouseau, Jr.'s existence is revealed to the world in ''Son'', Cato doesn't hesitate to offer his services to him.
* IconicSequelCharacter: Debuted in the second film, and has been a mainstay ever since.
* IronButtmonkey: He takes a lot of lumps in his job, but has his boss' resilience.
* IrrevocableOrder: Apparently considers the order to ambush his boss at every opportunity to be this.
* MomentKiller: In the endings of ''A Shot in the Dark'' and ''Strikes Again'', he attacks Clouseau just as he's getting intimate with a woman. He also does this in a non-romantic manner in ''Return'', when he attacks Clouseau during a dinner celebrating his promotion.
* OlderSidekick: To Clouseau, Jr. in ''Son''.
* RefrigeratorAmbush: How he makes his big entrance in ''Return''. He does it again in ''Son''.
* SomeOfMyBestFriendsAreX: Uses the phrase in ''Trail'', but in an atypical context. Professor Balls leaves a rude answering machine message that calls him a "picaroon", a (made-up) term meaning "cheat". When Marie explains the meaning to him, Cato says he doesn't mind being called that -- "Some of my best friends are picaroons!" (This includes his maternal grandmother, who runs a Miami Beach bingo parlor.)
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name was spelled as ''Kato'' in the end credits of ''A Shot in the Dark'', but this was changed in all later appearances. This may or may not have been a case of WritingAroundTrademarks with regards to the similar character of Kato in ''Radio/TheGreenHornet''.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Clouseau.
----
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Chief Inspector Dreyfus]]
!!Commissioner (later Chief Inspector before Clouseau) Charles [=LaRousse=] Dreyfus
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0000223050_6701.jpg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/HerbertLom [[labelnote:Other Languages]]Creator/DuncanElliott (French, ''A Shot in the Dark''), Creator/SergeSauvion (French, ''Son of the Pink Panther'')[[/labelnote]]
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/AShotInTheDark'' | ''Film/TheReturnOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain'' | ''Film/RevengeOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/CurseOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/SonOfThePinkPanther''

Clouseau's boss is one of the few people completely aware of the Inspector's bumbling ways, and thus deeply frustrated -- to the point of madness, in the original series -- by his tenacity.
----
* AmusingInjuries: He endures everything from accidentally shooting off part of his nose in ''Return'' to a non-fatal explosion in ''Son''. Even when his injuries put him in the hospital, as happens in ''Curse'' and ''Son'', he can't escape trouble.
* AxCrazy: Becomes this after he accidentally chops off his thumb in ''Shot''. He's ''especially'' crazy in ''Strikes Again''.
* BerserkButton: Clouseau's very existence is a Berserk Button for Dreyfus due to the CluelessDetective's ineptitude causing him no end of misfortune and annoyance. That Clouseau [[AchievementsInIgnorance became a national hero against all logic]] only adds to Dreyfus's resentment of him.
* BigBad: In ''The Pink Panther Strikes Again''.
* BrokenAce: It's mentioned in ''Revenge'' that he was a very competent policeman himself before Clouseau arrived on the scene.
* ButtMonkey and from there IronButtmonkey: Example: Near the end of ''Curse'', he manages to survive falling off a cliff (due to rocket launcher recoil) into the sea...backwards...in a wheelchair...with one leg in plaster. An old forum recap of this film at Website/TheAgonyBooth noted that it would be ''really'' hard to swim under those conditions, but he apparently pulls it off.
* DaChief: Starts out as merely this.
* DiabolicalMastermind: In ''Strikes Again'' he becomes a full on ''Franchise/JamesBond'' villain, complete with a fancy castle as his lair and a powerful organization of criminals and assassins at his disposal.
* DrivenToMadness: And from there...
* DrivenToVillainy: He starts trying to kill Clouseau and becomes the BigBad in ''Strikes Again''.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The series wastes no time in letting the audience know exactly what sort of a person Dreyfus is and how little he thinks of Clouseau. In his first ever scene, he's on the phone with someone telling her he will be over in 20 minutes with some wine and to "kiss the children for me"... before his secretary suddenly informs him his wife is on the other line and he nonchalantly replies, "Tell her I'm out of town." He then tries to rush out the door, even when a subordinate arrives to tell him there's been a murder and only stops when he realizes that Clouseau was the one sent to investigate.
* EvilIsHammy: When he becomes a BigBad in ''Strikes Again'', he's clearly loving every minute of being one.
* FaceHeelTurn: He might be a nasty person before he goes insane, but he is far from evil and can actually be quite pleasant when Clouseau isn't around. In the alternate continuity of the Steve Martin films, he is benign by comparison.
* {{Flanderization}}: Undergoes this in the original series. In ''A Shot in the Dark'', he's simply DaChief annoyed by Clouseau's antics. From ''Return'' onwards, he becomes a tic-ridden lunatic who only wants to kill Clouseau, even when the latter does nothing offending at all.
* HeelFaceTurn: He's recovered his sanity at the beginning of ''Strikes Again'', although he quickly loses it, and again at the beginning of ''Revenge''. Perhaps the [[spoiler:work of the machine]] was undone with [[spoiler:its destruction]], as he, once he has recovered his sanity, actually manages to get his old job back again in ''Revenge''.
* IconicSequelCharacter: He debuted in the second film, and just like Cato is an iconic part of the franchise.
* InsaneEqualsViolent: PlayedForLaughs, especially in the later entries.
* KarmaHoudini: Dreyfus kills several people in his attempts to kill Clouseau, including disintegrating the U.N. building and attempting to destroy England, yet two movies later, ''Trail'', he is Commissioner again and no one talks about it (this is either a PlotHole or just NegativeContinuity).
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Whenever Dreyfus suffers his accidental AmusingInjuries, such as stabbing himself with a letter opener or [[JugglingLoadedGuns shooting his nose off]], he gives surprisingly subdued reactions.
* NeverMyFault: For all his hatred of Clouseau, he never stops to think that most of the injuries he suffers are self-inflicted. The most you can blame on Clouseau is that Dreyfus gets careless when ranting about his least favorite detective.
** [[spoiler:He also is quick to blame Clouseau for the deaths of several innocent (and not so innocent) people despite it being his own attempts to murder Clouseau that causes these deaths.]]
* OlderThanTheyLook: If he was indeed born in 1900.
* PlotHole: He's Chief Inspector again by ''Trail'', despite everything he's done in the previous films! Who would be so foolish as to put someone so dangerous back in his old position? See also SnapBack / UnexplainedRecovery below.
* SanitySlippage: However, every day and in every way, he's getting better and better (Unless, of course, he meets Clouseau on that day).
* SecretOtherFamily: Briefly mentioned during the opening of ''A Shot in the Dark''. In his opening scene he is on the phone with someone, telling her he will be over with wine shortly and to "Kiss the children for me." We soon learn that this is ''not'' his wife, as Dreyfus's secretary tells him his ''actual'' wife is phoning him on the other line and he responds, "Tell her I'm out of town."
* SignificantBirthDate: April 1, aka AprilFoolsDay, according to ''Curse''.
* SnapBack / UnexplainedRecovery: His presence in ''Revenge'' and the subsequent films, after [[spoiler:apparently getting disintegrated at the end of ''Strikes Again'']]. For that matter, it's never explained why he was still on the force in ''Return'' after [[spoiler:confessing to a car bombing and suffering a nervous breakdown]] at the end of ''Shot in the Dark''.
* TakeAThirdOption: To maintain his Chief Inspector position in ''Curse'', he has to help the investigation into Clouseau's disappearance via giving the computer vital information about him. But if he does that and Clouseau is found, he'll have to deal with the man he hates most in the world again. He invokes this trope as a result: He consults an imprisoned hacker to learn how to reprogram the computer, allowing him to give the information to it but with the result that it seeks out a detective with qualities opposite to those Clouseau supposedly has (remember, most people think Clouseau uses ObfuscatingStupidity).
* ThrowTheDogABone: At the end of ''Son'', [[spoiler: he marries Maria Gambrelli]].
* TwitchyEye: He develops it as he's being DrivenToMadness in ''Shot'', and it remains a facial tic of his through the rest of the original series.
----
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Pink Panther]]
!!The Pink Panther
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pink_panther_11_4038.jpg]]
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/ThePinkPanther1963'' | ''WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/TheReturnOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain'' | ''Film/RevengeOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/CurseOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/SonOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/ThePinkPanther2006'' | ''Film/ThePinkPanther2''

The AnimatedCreditsOpening created by [=DePatie/Freling Enterprises=] visualizes the pink, panther-shaped flaw in the titular diamond as an actual pink panther. This dapper anthropomorphic mute proved popular enough that he appears in most of the credit sequences in the series -- the exceptions are ''A Shot in the Dark'' and ''Inspector Clouseau'' -- and when he's not tangling with a caricature of Clouseau (or his successors in the later films), he's playing with the credits and even interacting with the live-action settings and characters. He was quickly spun off into [[WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther his own series of animated shorts]].
----
* AffectionateParody: Impersonates various movie stars and characters in the openings to ''The Return of the Pink Panther'' and ''The Pink Panther Strikes Again''.
* BagOfKidnapping: This happens to him in "G.I. Pink."
* ButtMonkey: In the opening of the first film, where he's pursued by The Phantom's white glove, and then in the opening of ''Son of...'', having to deal with Jacques Gambrelli.
* PaperThinDisguise: Disguises himself as a lamp in the opening of ''Revenge of the Pink Panther''. The Inspector does not notice and electrocutes himself when he tries to switch the light on.
* SeriesMascot: He's so popular that from ''Return'' onward, he's always worked into the titles and title sequences even when the diamond isn't brought up at all in the plots.
%%* {{Toon}}
%%* TheVoiceless
* WolverinePublicity: The Pink Panther appears on the DVD box art for ''Film/AShotInTheDark'', even if he doesn't appear in the film at all.
----
[[/folder]]
[[folder:The Inspector]]
!!The Inspector
[[quoteright:139:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pink_panther_inspector_5031.jpg]]
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/AShotInTheDark'' | ''Inspector Clouseau'' | ''WesternAnimation/TheInspector'' | ''Film/TheReturnOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain'' | ''Film/RevengeOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther''

A caricature of Clouseau appearing in most {{Animated Credits Opening}}s of the film series. He was spun off into [[WesternAnimation/TheInspector his own animated series]] as well.
----
* ButtMonkey: He constantly falls in traps while chasing the Pink Panther in the credits.
%%* {{Determinator}}
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: ''A Shot In The Dark'' and ''Inspector Clouseau'' featured an incredibly different and more simplistic design for the Inspector compared to his redesign by Creator/RichardWilliams in ''Return'' onward. His early design would also be used in ''WesternAnimation/TheInspector''.
* InspectorJavert: He always wants to arrest the Pink Panther, for whatever reason.
%%* TheVoiceless
----
[[/folder]]

!!!Recurring Characters
[[folder:Sir Charles Lytton]]
!!Sir Charles Lytton/The Phantom
[[quoteright:309:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/12872-14922_2332.gif]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/DavidNiven (''The Pink Panther'', ''Trail'', and ''Curse'', albeit dubbed by Creator/RichLittle in the latter two), Creator/ChristopherPlummer (''Return'')
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/ThePinkPanther1963'' | ''Film/TheReturnOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/CurseOfThePinkPanther''

An English gentleman who is also an internationally-notorious jewel thief. Famous for leaving a white, monogrammed glove as his calling card. He is the actual protagonist of the original film and has a parallel plot to Clouseau's in ''The Return of...'' Inspector Clouseau is his longtime nemesis, determined to prove [[GentlemanThief the gentleman and the thief are one and the same]]. For his part, Sir Charles regards Clouseau with some respect, admiring his tenacity.
----
* AffablyEvil: He might be Clouseau's archnemesis, but, despite a slightly ruthless streak, he is a pleasant person on the whole and holds Clouseau in very little contempt. (Dreyfus, on the other hand [[AxCrazy hates him, hates him, hates him!!!!]])
* GentlemanThief: His moniker might mean he's a reference to Fantomas, one of the earliest examples.
* HeelFaceTurn: He settles down to enjoy a quiet life after the events of the first film. This doesn't mean that he won't dabble in the art of crookery again, though.
* HypocriticalHumor: In the first film, upon discovering that the Pink Panther has already been taken from a targeted safe: "Someone's being highly dishonest!"
* SameLanguageDub: Niven was terminally ill by the time ''Trail'' and ''Curse'' were shot (they were his final films) and his voice was extremely weak, hence professional impersonator Rich Little dubbing all his dialogue in both.
* VillainProtagonist: Is this in the first film as the movie focuses on him more.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Simone Clouseau]]
!!Simone Clouseau (later Lady Lytton)
[[quoteright:252:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2650-14922_7782.gif]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/{{Capucine}}
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/ThePinkPanther1963'' | ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/CurseOfThePinkPanther''

There are a lot of reasons Inspector Clouseau has never proven the link between Sir Charles and the Phantom, and one of the biggest is that he didn't realize until it was too late that his wife was one of the Phantom's associates. Between her first appearance and her return to the series with the ''Trail''/''Curse'' duet, she divorces Clouseau and marries Sir Charles, and they offer their help to Clifton Sleigh in his search for the missing detective. But do they have an ulterior motive in mind?
----
* BitchInSheepsClothing: In the first film.
* HeelFaceTurn: She feels sorry for Clouseau after she deceives him in the first film.
* {{Jerkass}}: She doesn't come across as a particularly pleasant woman, at least in ''Trail''. While she cheated on Clouseau with gusto in the first film, she at least felt a pang of concern for him as he was arrested. In ''Trail'', while her husband seems to have a grudging admiration for the Inspector, Simone does nothing but badmouth him and smugly assert she left Clouseau when she found "the man of her dreams" (meaning Lytton). Note all of this takes place when Clouseau is missing, presumed dead!
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:George Lytton]]
!!George Lytton
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/RobertWagner
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/ThePinkPanther1963'' | ''Film/CurseOfThePinkPanther''

Sir Charles Lytton's feisty American nephew.
----
* AffablyEvil: Just like his uncle.
* CasanovaWannabe: Try as he might, he really doesn't have his uncle's prowess when it comes to dealing with women.
* HesBack: Isn't mentioned at all in ''Return'' or ''Trail'', but he shows up again in ''Curse'' and has a fairly substantial role.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Maria Gambrelli]]
!!Maria Gambrelli
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/ElkeSommer (''A Shot in the Dark''), Creator/ClaudiaCardinale (''Son'')
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/AShotInTheDark'' | ''Film/SonOfThePinkPanther''

A sweet, beautiful maid to the Ballon household, and the prime suspect in the murder of its chauffeur. Inspector Clouseau, who is attracted to her, is determined to prove her innocence and save her from the guillotine -- unfortunately, as more murders involving the Ballons occur, she's always found at the scenes of the crimes! In ''Son of the Pink Panther'', it's revealed that after the events of ''A Shot in the Dark'' she and Clouseau were briefly lovers and Jacques Gambrelli was the result of that union.
----
* BetaCouple: With [[spoiler:Charles Dreyfus]] in ''Son''.
* [[GirlOfTheWeek Girl of the Film]]: The first example of this in the series for Clouseau.
* {{Maid}}: Not [[FrenchMaid French]], mind you, but Italian (albeit played by German and French Tunisian actresses).
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hercule LaJoy]]
!!Hercule [=LaJoy=]
!!!'''Played By:''' Graham Stark
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/AShotInTheDark'' | ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther''

Clouseau's assistant in the investigation of the Ballon murders.
----
* BeleagueredAssistant: ''Trail'' reveals that he retired from the police force after the events of ''Shot'', as he found working with Clouseau too "exciting".
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Francois Chevalier]]
!!Sergeant Francois Chevalier
!!!'''Played By:''' Andre Maranne
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/AShotInTheDark'' | ''Film/TheReturnOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain'' | ''Film/RevengeOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/CurseOfThePinkPanther''

A pleasant, patient underling to both Dreyfus and, after his promotion at the end of ''The Return of the Pink Panther'', Clouseau. He knows how inept Clouseau can be, but accidentally starts the trouble in ''A Shot in the Dark'' by assigning him to the Ballon case before realizing how important the case actually is.
----
* BeleagueredAssistant: So, which is worse -- attending to the psychotic Dreyfus or the chaos-attracting Clouseau? A tough call indeed...
* MrExposition: In the films from TheSeventies onward, he not only briefs Dreyfus or Clouseau about the main plot, but also seemingly unrelated matters that turn out to be [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Guns]] (such as the escaped transvestite thief in ''Revenge''). He's also a useful sounding board for both characters.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: He's far from being a major character and is generally just MrExposition for a few scenes. However, his assigning Clouseau to the Ballon case is the ultimate cause of Dreyfus going insane and Clouseau's rise to fame.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professor Auguste Balls]]
!!Professor Auguste Balls
!!!'''Played By:''' Graham Stark (''Revenge'' and ''Son''), Creator/HarveyKorman (''Strikes Again'' [unused scenes], ''Trail'' and ''Curse'')
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain'' | ''Film/RevengeOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/CurseOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/SonOfThePinkPanther''

Clouseau gets all of his brilliant disguises from this curious costume-shop owner, who has a {{Gonk}} of a wife and an odd assistant to boot. The flip-flopping between actors owes to the character originating as a DeletedRole in ''Strikes Again''; when the deleted scenes were incorporated into ''Trail'', Korman was brought back to shoot new scenes as the character.
----
* AmusingInjuries: He and his assistant acquire these in ''Revenge'' after a [[NonFatalExplosions non-fatal explosion]], but even wrapped up in bandages they still live to serve when Clouseau consults them to prepare for his trip to Hong Kong.
* DoubleEntendre: His name is an exceedingly goofy one even without the BilingualBonus (Music/{{ACDC}} would be proud).
* LargeHam: Professor Balls is one of the hammier supporting characters in the series, which makes sense given that he makes his living selling eccentric disguises that most people (besides, perhaps, Clouseau) wouldn't think to need -- a hunchback costume complete with inflatable hump, anyone?
* TookALevelInJerkass: In ''Trail'' and ''Curse'', he's a lot nastier than in his other appearances. Granted, he's trying to get the absent Clouseau to pay a tab he ran up, but he leaves rude answering machine messages (and drops a few ethnic slurs with regards to Cato) and in ''Curse'' effectively forces Sgt. Sleigh into buying a bunch of ridiculous items he'd been holding for Clouseau. Some of this may be due to the alternating actors, as when he reappears in ''Son'' he's back to his rather pleasant self.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mr. Chong]]
!!Mr. Chong
!!!'''Played By:''' Ed Parker, Robert Rietty (''Curse'', voice)
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/RevengeOfThePinkPanther'' | ''Film/CurseOfThePinkPanther''

An assassin and martial arts master, who is sent after Clouseau in ''Revenge of the Pink Panther''. He later shows up again in ''Curse of the Pink Panther'', this time going after Clifton Sleigh.
----
* AwesomeButImpractical: While it's kind of impressive that he can split a rock in two and then completely demolish his dojo all for the sake of a demonstration, it really doesn't seem like that good of a business model. Then again, that'd certainly explain why he does assassinations on the side.
* GlassCannon: His punches are powerful enough to ''demolish buildings'', yet he gets dealt with very easily in his first appearance. Much less so in his second appearance, where he comes very close to killing Sleigh and only gets taken out by a freak accident.
* TheSilentBob: In ''Revenge'' he doesn't speak at all, while in ''Curse'' he only speaks in his introductory scene.
----
[[/folder]]

!!!One-Shot Characters

[[folder:Princess Dahla]]
!!Princess Dahla
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/ClaudiaCardinale
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/ThePinkPanther1963''

The owner of the Pink Panther diamond in the first film, and a royal princess from the country of Lugash, who quickly becomes a target for the Phantom.
----
* CantHoldHerLiquor: Coming from a country where there's next to no alcohol, Sir Charles is easily able to pump her for information by getting her drunk with champagne. Unfortunately for him it works a little too well, and she passes out before she can tell him where the diamond is.
* ShaggyDogStory: ''Return'' implies that she was deposed, the Lugash monarchy abolished, and the Pink Panther diamond was seized from her regardless of her desire to hold onto it.
* SpannerInTheWorks: She was apparently somewhat tempted by Sir Charles's implicit offer for him to steal the diamond so that she could take the insurance money, but chickened out and hid the diamond elsewhere, unwittingly foiling his and George's robbery attempts. However, she gives the diamond to Clouseau's wife so that they can frame him instead.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lady Lytton]]
!!Lady Claudine Litton
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/CatherineSchell
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/TheReturnOfThePinkPanther''

Sir Charles Litton's wife, who Clouseau trails at length in an attempt to discover whether or not her husband may be up to his old tricks again. As it turns out however, Claudine has decided to try the thief's profession out for herself.
----
* MsFanservice: Spends much of the film in various states of undress. Naturally, Clouseau finds it difficult to focus on his job when he's around her.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: She never seems outright ''stupid'' per se, more a blissfully unaware society wife. In reality however, she is the true thief.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: It's never revealed if she was arrested for stealing the Pink Panther diamond, or whether the whole thing got pinned on the deceased Colonel Sharky. She doesn't appear or get mentioned in ''Trail'', but that film seems to disregard ''Return'' and sets itself up as an alternate sequel to ''A Shot in the Dark''.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Simone Legree]]
!!Simone Legree
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/DyanCannon
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/RevengeOfThePinkPanther''

A gangster's moll who helps Clouseau go after his would-be assassins, after they turn on her as well.
----
* ThrowTheDogABone: At the end of the film, she and Clouseau go out on a date, which for once isn't spoiled by Cato showing up and attacking them. Many fans prefer to remember the image of them walking down the street together as the true ending of the series.
* WomanScorned: Seeing how her ex scorned her by trying to have her ''killed'', you can see why she's eager to help out Clouseau.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Douvier pulls this on her, and orders his underlings to kill her. However, Clouseau unwittingly foils the attempt, and the two team up afterwards.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Philippe Douvier]]
!!Philippe Douvier
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/RobertWebber
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/RevengeOfThePinkPanther''

The head of a French drug gang. When his American partners begin to doubt his ability to control his territory, he decides to prove his powers by having Clouseau killed.
----
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Had he just left Clouseau alone, and especially if he hadn't decided to off his ex-girlfriend, he and his American partners would still be in business.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Gets some firecrackers down the pants for all the trouble he caused Simone.
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Despite being supposedly French, he has a very conspicuous New York accent.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Marie Jouvet]]
!!Marie Jouvet
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/JoannaLumley
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther''

A French television reporter who decides to interview Inspector Clouseau's old associates after he goes missing on his way to Lugash to investigate the latest theft of the Pink Panther diamond.
----
* FryingPanOfDoom: When she sneaks into Clouseau's apartment and is ambushed by Cato, she uses one of these to get the upper hand on him.
* GoingForTheBigScoop: Not even the Mafia can dissuade her from her quest to find out what happened to Clouseau.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: She's not even mentioned in ''Curse''; her actress is playing another character. Another reporter establishes at the start of the film that a year's passed since Clouseau vanished, so the trail Marie was following must have gone cold.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Clifton Sleigh]]
!!Detective Sergeant Clifton Sleigh
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/liveactioncliftonsleigh3.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The world's greatest detective... or so we're told.]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/TedWass
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/CurseOfThePinkPanther''

A year after Clouseau vanished, a supercomputer is tasked with finding the world's greatest detective to seek him out. But Dreyfus was in charge of giving the computer the neccesary information for said search, so he consulted an imprisoned hacker to learn how to reprogram it. The result? The computer gave up the name of the world's ''worst'' detective instead: a third-generation New York City cop who may be more pleasant than Clouseau, but no more competent.
----
* BlindWithoutEm: He needs some kind of aid to see much; usually he wears glasses, but in his EstablishingCharacterMoment the situation goes from bad to worse when he loses one of his contact lenses.
* CluelessDetective: Just like the guy he is trying to find. [[spoiler: And fails to find his target. Even though he ''shakes his hand''.]]
* IdiotHero: He does mean well and takes his job quite seriously.
* IncrediblyConspicuousDrag: His EstablishingCharacterMoment has him bungling an undercover mission in which he's disguised -- badly -- as a female prostitute. A drunk man tries to proposition him; there's no way that a sober man would do the same.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Has a rather slick clarinet-driven theme tune that accompanies him a few times. [[spoiler: It even has a LoveTheme variant that plays when he gets seduced by Juleta]].
* NerdGlasses: The chunky black variety.
* NonActionGuy: He spends a significant chunk of the movie fleeing bad guys and being rescued by other characters. When he has to help Juleta (an ActionGirl) in a fight against ninja Mr. Chong, it's only through luck that he succeeds.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: For Clouseau. The main differences between the two are that Clifton doesn't have Clouseau's ego and confidence, and is more affable and eager to please. Sleigh's boss in New York is also a suspiciously similar substitute for Dreyfus.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Countess Chandra]]
!!Countess Chandra
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/JoannaLumley
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/CurseOfThePinkPanther''

The pre-credits sequence of ''Curse'' reveals that this Spanish health spa owner hired a professional thief to steal the Pink Panther from Lugash. When Clouseau arrived at her villa in Valencia, just as the thief was presenting it to her and negotiating the fee, she killed the thief, and aimed her gun at Clouseau... and one year later, she is terribly concerned when she learns that Clifton Sleigh is headed her way.
----
* AristocratsAreEvil: A Countess who steals and kills.
* FauxAffablyEvil: She is a RichBitch, but can fake a pleasant facade if need be.
* MagicPlasticSurgery: Uses this to [[spoiler: give Clouseau a new identity]].
* RichBitch: She's haughty and ruthless.
* TheVamp: She turns her wiles on [[spoiler: Inspector Clouseau... ''successfully''.]]
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Clouseau Jr.]]
!!Gendarme Jacques Gambrelli/Clouseau, Jr.[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jacquesgambrelli_1.jpg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/RobertoBenigni
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/SonOfThePinkPanther''

Inspector Clouseau had a brief love affair with Maria Gambrelli after the events of ''A Shot in the Dark'', and she never revealed to him that he fathered a child by her. Ten years after Clouseau's disappearance, this young gendarme falls in LoveAtFirstSight with the kidnapped Princess Yasmin of Lugash when his path accidentally crosses with those of her captors, and he comes to embrace his SecretLegacy as a bumbling hero to rescue her.
----
* TheDulcineaEffect: He doesn't realize that she's been kidnapped when he first meets and falls for Princess Yasmin; when he learns the truth, he becomes determined to rescue her.
* IdiotHero: Just like his father.
* TheKlutz
* LamarckWasRight: While he's not as arrogant as his father, he's definitely inherited his clumsiness and nonstandard pronunciations... but also his resilience and determination. "That felt ''good''!" (a line from ''Strikes Again'') is practically his catchphrase.
* {{Leitmotif}}: He has a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs1G8gTpyWk simplistically-jaunty theme tune]] that accompanies him throughout the film. Perhaps as a nod to his heritage, it sounds quite similar to "The Inspector Clouseau Theme".
* LikeFatherLikeSon: Practically his entire character.
* SecretLegacy: He doesn't know that he's Clouseau's son until the events of the film. Maria hid his heritage from him (claiming his father was a musician who played the French horn) when she realized that he wanted to be a police officer, as she feared he would be discouraged if he learned that his clumsy, foolish father was one. But once she reveals the truth to him, he's not discouraged at all -- if anything it further encourages him in his quest to save the princess.
----
[[/folder]]

!The Reboot
[[folder:Inspector Clouseau]]
!!Inspector Jacques Clouseau
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/SteveMartin
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/ThePinkPanther2006'' | ''Film/ThePinkPanther2''

A bumbling police officer from a small village in France, promoted to Inspector by Dreyfus and assigned to recover the Pink Panther diamond.
----
* AdaptationalIntelligence: The original Clouseau was wholly incompetent and when he did solve the crime usually only did so [[CluelessDetective by complete accident]]. This Clouseau, while still an inept buffoon, is capable of making logical deductions and in both films is able to solve the mystery before the climax.
* GeniusDitz: This version of Clouseau is actually prone to the occasional moments of lucidity.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He can be a bit childish and insensitive buffoon who stereotypes women and other nationalities but he is a hero who does care about his job as a man of the law and does care about his friend and partner Ponton and [[spoiler: later wife]] Nicole.
* LargeHam: Wouldn't be Clouseau otherwise.
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: In the reboot, Clouseau is portrayed as an insensitive lecher who blatantly stereotypes everyone he meets by nationality or race, and it's played for laughs. In the original series, Clouseau constantly refers to Cato in derogatory ways -- i.e., "Cato, my little yellow friend, I'm home!" -- and the PaperThinDisguise as an Asian that he wears in ''Revenge'' is similarly ridiculous, but that's more a case of ValuesDissonance (and, perhaps, Clouseau's general foolishness) than this trope.
* YouSayTomato: Steve Martin's Clouseau would like to buy a "damburger" and would also like to rent a "rhume" for the night.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gilbert Ponton]]
!!Gilbert Ponton
[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jean-reno-et-steve-martin_8400.jpg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/JeanReno
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/ThePinkPanther2006'' | ''Film/ThePinkPanther2''

This HypercompetentSidekick to Clouseau is the reboot's counterpart to Cato in the original series.
----
* CompositeCharacter: He combines traits of both Cato and Hercule [=LaJoy=].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Chief Inspector Dreyfus]]
!!Chief Inspector Dreyfus
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/KevinKline (2006), Creator/JohnCleese (2009)
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/ThePinkPanther2006'' | ''Film/ThePinkPanther2''

Clouseau's superior, and the only character to make the jump from the original films to the reboot.
----
* AdaptationalHeroism: While he is still portrayed as a {{Jerkass}}, in the Steve Martin films he lacks the AxCrazy tendencies from the Blake Edwards films and he never tries to kill Clouseau or becomes a criminal.
[[/folder]]

** [[spoiler:He also is quick to blame Clouseau for the deaths of several innocent (and not so innocent) people despite it being his own attempts to murder Clouseau that causes these deaths.

!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/PeterSellers (most of the original series), Creator/AlanArkin (''Inspector Clouseau''), Daniel Peacock (''Trail''; flashbacks), [[spoiler:Creator/RogerMoore]] (''Curse''), Andy Scourfield (''Son''; ghost)

!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/ElkeSommer (''A Shot in the Dark''), Claudia Cardinale (''Son'')

* GeniusDitz: The Steve Martin version of Clouseau is actually prone to the occasional moments of lucidity.

* LargeHam: Most of the time, owing to his need to command any important situation (and many unimportant ones). His grandiose gestures often backfire on him, though. He's even more of a ham when played by Steve Martin.

* YouSayTomato: A standard part of Peter Sellers' Clouseau shtick from ''A Shot in the Dark'' onwards (he once tries to pick up a "massage" at the front desk of a hotel). And in the reboot, Steve Martin's Clouseau would like to buy a "damburger" and would also like to rent a "rhume" for the night.

Clouseau's boss is one of the few people completely aware of the Inspector's bumbling ways, and thus deeply frustrated -- to the point of madness, in the original series -- by his tenacity. Notable as the only original series character besides Clouseau to appear in the reboot.

->Debut: ''A Shot in the Dark'' (1964)

->Played by: Creator/DavidNiven (''The Pink Panther'', ''Trail of...'', and ''Curse of...'', albeit dubbed by Creator/RichLittle in the latter two), Creator/ChristopherPlummer (''The Return of...'')
->Debut: ''The Pink Panther'' (1963)

->Played by: Capucine
->Debut: ''The Pink Panther'' (1963)

->Played by: Creator/RobertWagner
->Debut: ''The Pink Panther'' (1963)

!! Maria Gambrelli
->Played by: Creator/ElkeSommer (''A Shot in the Dark''), Claudia Cardinale (''Son of...'')
->Debut: ''A Shot in the Dark'' (1964)

->Played by: Graham Stark
->Debut: ''A Shot in the Dark'' (1964)

->Played by: Andre Maranne
->Debut: ''A Shot in the Dark'' (1964)

->Played by: Graham Stark (''Revenge of...'' and ''Son of...''), Harvey Korman (''Strikes Again'' [unused scenes], ''Trail of...'' and ''Curse of...'')
->Debut: Officially, ''Revenge of the Pink Panther'' (1978)

->Played by: Ed Parker (voiced by Robert Rietty in ''Curse of...'')
->Debut: ''Revenge of the Pink Panther'' (1978)

->Played by: Creator/ClaudiaCardinale
->Appears in: ''The Pink Panther'' (1963)

->Played by: Catherine Schell
->Appears in: ''The Return of the Pink Panther'' (1975)

->Played by: Dyan Cannon
->Appears in: ''Revenge of the Pink Panther'' (1978)

->Played by: Robert Webber
->Appears in: ''Revenge of the Pink Panther'' (1978)

->Played by: Creator/JoannaLumley
->Appears in: ''Trail of the Pink Panther'' (1982)

->Played by: Ted Wass
->Appears in: ''Curse of the Pink Panther'' (1983)

->Played by: Creator/JoannaLumley
->Appears in: ''Curse of the Pink Panther'' (1983)

->Played by: Creator/RobertoBenigni
->Appears in: ''Son of the Pink Panther'' (1993)

->Played by: Creator/SteveMartin (reboot films)

->Played by: Creator/JeanReno

->Played by: Creator/KevinKline (2006 reboot), Creator/JohnCleese (2009 sequel)

!!'''Inspector Jacques Clouseau'''

->Played by: '''Creator/PeterSellers''' (most of the original series), Creator/AlanArkin (''Inspector Clouseau''), Daniel Peacock (''Trail''; flashbacks), [[spoiler:Creator/RogerMoore]] (''Curse''), Andy Scourfield (''Son''; ghost)
->Debut appearance: ''The Pink Panther'' (1963)

-->''"Well, until we meet again and the case is sol-ved!"'' - Film/RevengeOfThePinkPanther

->Played by: Creator/BurtKwouk
->Debut: ''A Shot in the Dark'' (1964)

->Played by: Creator/HerbertLom (original series)
->Dubbed by: Creator/DuncanElliott (French, ''A Shot in the Dark''), Creator/SergeSauvion (French, ''Son of the Pink Panther'')
->Debut: ''A Shot in the Dark'' (1964)

->Debut: ''The Pink Panther'' (1963)