∇

troperville

∇

tools

∇

toys

Pazu

• Ace Pilot
• Adorably Precocious Child
• Badass
  • Badass Adorable
• Batman Gambit / Indy Ploy: His plan to escape from the pirates and the military by catching on to the collapsing train rails, counting on the chance that Sheeta's crystal will save them.
• Boisterous Bruiser
• Big Eater
• Break the Haughty: He takes Muska's money, somewhat realizing it's wrong. Cue Dola rubbing it in his face, resulting in a short Heroic BSOD.
• Cassandra Truth: The existence of Laputa, even more so for his father.
• Children Are Innocent
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: In the climax, where he refuses to leave Sheeta alone even though it could mean a swift resolution of Muska's entire gamut. Muska plays him like a fiddle because of this.
• Clear Their Name: He is trying to clear his father's, who was ridiculed for his belief in Laputa.
• Conveniently an Orphan: There is no mention of his mother. His father was implied to have been Driven to Suicide because people kept saying he was lying about seeing Laputa.
  • Disappeared Dad
• Determinator: In his quest to find Laputa. Up until the moment he takes Muska's bribe, of course - but after he gets in with Dola's gang, it comes right back up.
• Didn't Think This Through: His escape plan from the mines.
• Generation Xerox: Not unlike his dad, he builds flying machines and has an obsession with Laputa.
• Hard Head: The reason he doesn't get any lasting injuries from his fall early in the movie.
• Heroic Sacrifice: With Sheeta in the end, saying the spell knowing it'll most likely end in his death. It doesn't though.
• Honor Before Reason
• Hot Blooded
• Jumped at the Call: "Are you kidding? This is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me."
• Nerves of Steel
• Official Couple: His Toy Ship with Sheeta.

LuSheeta Toel Ul Laputa

• Badass Damsel: People may complain she is a bit more "whiny" than other Ghibli heroines, but she did knock out Muska in her first scene and later stood up to him quite epically in the throne room.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Subverted in the very end when Muska shoots off her pigtails.
• Bonding Over Missing Parents: With Pazu, obviously.
• Broken Bird
• The Chosen One
• Combat Pragmatist: A bottle will do just fine.
• Conveniently an Orphan: It's not even really adressed what happened to her parents.
• The Cutie -> Badass Adorable
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Her spells, but mostly the destruction spell.
• Declaration of Protection: She is immediately very protective of Pazu, although it takes her a while to put words into action.
• Everything's Better with Princesses: She is the legitimate heir to the throne of Laputa.
• Establishing Character Moment: Her very first scene.
• The Heart
• Holding Hands: With Pazu.
• I Am Who?
• Important Haircut
• Improvised Weapon: She uses a bottle to hit Muska over the head and later a shovel to knock out two of Dola's boys.
• Long Lost Relative: In a dark version of this trope, Muska is one to her.
• Memento Macguffin: Her necklace. It's an heirloom of the Laputean royal family from which she is directly descended.
• Plucky Girl
• Royal Blood
• Silk Hiding Steel: Especially in her first scene and the climax.
• Sleep Cute
• Taking You with Me: To Muska. "We will die here together."
• Thanatos Gambit / Heroic Sacrifice: Using the destruction spell to stop Muska and destroy Laputa. She knew it was most likely going to kill her, but she did it anyway together with Pazu. They lived through it, of course.
• Troubled, but Cute

Dola

• A Mother To Her Men: Quite literally, since she is their mother.
• Anti-Hero: Somewhere between types I and III.
• Action Mom
• Badass Grandma
  • Badass Longhair
• Big Bad Ensemble: At the beginning of the movie, Dola VS Muska. Until it becomes clear Dola is really a good guy.
• Boobs of Steel: She has remarkably large breasts.
• Cool Airship: Her ship.
• Cool Old Lady
• Drives Like Crazy: In the chase scene while in the automobile. Holy cow.
• Enemy Mine: Teams up with Pazu and Sheeta because of their mutual enemy, Muska, as well as their mutual interest/need for Laputa.
• Genre Savvy: Camping out in Pazu's house certainly counts.
• Girlish Pigtails
• Good Is Not Soft
• Heel Face Turn: She was never really a "heel" to begin with, but she did get a lot nicer.
  • Took a Level in Kindness
• Honor Before Reason: Chewing Pazu out for ditching Sheeta.
• Insistent Terminology: She's a captain.
• I Was Quite a Looker: Take a look at the photograph of her inside her personal quarters. She looks exactly like a red-haired Sheeta.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Pazu even points it out.
• Large Ham: At one points she is even eating a very large ham, which would count as a Lampshade Hanging had this film been made later. Cloris Leachman's voice acting in the Disney dub takes it Up to Eleven.
• Lovable Rogue
• Not In This For Your Revolution: She only wanted to loot Laputa.
• Pet the Dog: Taking Sheeta under her wing, giving her clothes and letting her sleep in her room.
• Pink Means Feminine
• Rose Haired Woman
• Sky Pirate
• Smart People Play Chess: With her husband.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Most of her sons are pretty goofy or easy to distract. She lampshades it in the car chase scene.
• Victoria's Secret Compartment: She stuffs a lot of jewelry in her bra.
• Villain Protagonist

Colonel RoMuska Palo Ul Laputa

• Affably Evil -> Faux Affably Evil: As Sheeta's captor, he is quite corteous and polite, also toward Pazu. Once he gains control of Laputa, however, he sheds the facade.
• Ax Crazy
• Big Bad: In case you hadn't figured it out.
• Blond Guys Are Evil
• Drunk on the Dark Side: The massive violent episode he goes through after gaining control of Laputa's powers.
• Evil Laugh
  • Eviler than Thou
• Evil Plan: Using Laputa to rule the earth once again. Which is unfortunately an entirely plausible plan due to the enormous capabilities of the Laputean machinery and technology.
• Fantastic Nuke: How he uses Laputa, especially after he gains control of the (usually benevolent) robots.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: "Your ears are next", he tells Sheeta after shooting off her pigtails.
• Karmic Disney Villain Death: He's blinded and stumbles around the crumbling Laputean floors. We don't see it, but he obviously dies falling down with the palace floors.
• Large Ham: Especially with Mark Hamill's hammy voice work.
  Muska: The same technology that kept Laputa airborne also made it A MAJOR POWER THAT ONCE DOMINATED THE ENTIRE planet.
• The Men in Black: His bodyguards.
• The Neidermeyer
• Overt Operative
• Person of Mass Destruction: When he takes over control of Laputa.
• Royal Blood: Like Sheeta, he is the heir to the Laputean throne.
• Scary Shiny Glasses
  • Sinister Shades
• Social Darwinist
• Villainous Breakdown: Moments before the collapse of Laputa.
• Villain with Good Publicity
• Would Hurt a Child: Toward Sheeta and Pazu.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The general tries to pull it on him. He then proceeds to kill the general and his men.
  Muska: I have really had enough of your incredible stupidity.

The General

• Armies Are Evil
• Disney Villain Death
• Even Evil Has Standards: Probably led to his decision to try and kill Muska.
• Fat Bastard
• Large Ham: Not as much as Hamill and Leachman in the Disney dub, but Jim Cummings does get to have fun with the character in places.
• Glory Seeker
• Too Dumb to Live: Shooting bullets at a projected image of Muska.

Uncle Pom

• Chekhov's Gunman: He is the first one to make the kids realize where Sheeta is really from.
• Cool Old Guy
• Hermit Guru: But he lives underneath the ground instead of a cave or other secluded area.

Dola's sons

• Big Eaters
• Boisterous Bruisers: Especially the one that can make his shirt explode.
• Bunny Ears Lawyers: Some of them are pretty competent in spite of their goofiness.
• The Ditz
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: "All good pirates listen to their mom."
• Five-Token Band: There are more than five, but they fit the trope. Some of them are black-skinned, others have distinctly Asian features. Most of the other characters look Caucasian (which figures since the movie is set in a fantasy version of Wales).
• Jabba Table Manners
• Large Hams
• Man Children
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything
• Punch Clock Villain: In the first act.