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Main Characters
Marlin
A clownfish who becomes an overprotective father after his mate Coral and all but one of his offspring were killed by a barracuda, making him very protective of Nemo to the point of isolating him. After Nemo is taken by divers, Marlin risks life and fin to find and rescue his son, becoming a braver and more self-confident person himself. He is the main protagonist of Finding Nemo and the deuteragonist of Finding Dory.
- Acquired Poison Immunity: Marlin is mostly immune to the stings of baby jellyfish, due to living in an anemone. This allows him to stay conscious in the jellyfish field longer than Dory.
- Aesop Amnesia: The first movie has him learning over the course of the film to be less of a worrywart and a stick-in-the-mud. In the sequel, while not quite as overprotective, he's back to being a worrywart and a stick-in-the-mud.
- Anger Born of Worry: In Finding Dory, this causes him to lash out at her when she accidentally attracts a hungry squid due to forgetting a warning, which nearly leads to Nemo being eaten.
- Artistic License – Biology: Clownfish are protandrous hermaphrodites, meaning that if the breeding female of a group, who is the largest one and effectively the alpha, dies or disappears, then the largest male will actually undergo a physical transition to become the new female alpha.
- Badass on Paper: Marlin does get through most of his trials through wits, desperation or luck, and the tales of his are recounted across the ocean to the point that he is re-imagined as an unstoppable badass Papa Wolf - granted, this isn't far from the truth, and he nearly becomes this during the end of the film.
- Badass Unintentional: Thanks to his hijinks, Marlin gets this reputation throughout the entire ocean area surrounding Sydney.
- Cannot Tell a Joke: He's rubbish at telling jokes at the start of the film due to his neurotic personality and being a hermit for years.
- Character Development: Throughout the journey, he makes several friends and begins to understand that he should have given Nemo more freedom, particularly through his interactions with Dory and Crush because, as Dory states, "You can't let nothing happen to him, because then nothing will happen to him," meaning if Marlin doesn't let Nemo grow up and get out in the world, he won't be able to live life to the fullest.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Hanging around with Dory and encountering many more zany fish makes Marlin the Only Sane Fish.
- Cowardly Lion: He'll do anything to get his son back; even get over his own fears.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: He manages to dodge all of the barracuda's bite attacks and even gets two hits in on it (which actually disorient it) before it knocks him out with a single flick of its tailfin.
- Cynicism Catalyst: The death of his wife and almost all of his eggs (except Nemo) turned him from a cheerful and easygoing fish to an overprotective, neurotic pessimist.
- Dark and Troubled Past: No wonder he's so overprotective. His wife and 400 eggs, except Nemo, were eaten by a barracuda.
- Deadpan Snarker: Sometimes, towards Dory.
- Despair Event Horizon: After Marlin thinks Nemo has died, he crosses, abandoning Dory and swimming off into the sea until Dory and Nemo find him.
- Determinator: Willing to tangle with sharks, an anglerfish, jellyfish, and choke his way out of a pelican's throat to find Nemo.
- Early-Bird Cameo: In Monsters, Inc., he appears as a painting on the wall of the sushi restaurant where Mike and Celia are having their date.
- Fatal Flaw: His obsessive behavior toward his son, while understandable, causes Nemo intense embarrassment and shame and drives his son away from him. One part of his Character Development is learning to give his son space.
- Foil: Marlin is much more pessimistic and serious than Dory.
- Helicopter Parents: Marlin's overprotectiveness towards Nemo is understandable given what happened to his wife and other children. Marlin is driven by this through the movie. After his wife Coral and four-hundred plus unborn children are eaten by a barracuda, Marlin becomes an over-protective single parent, in the belief that Nemo is fragile and incapable of looking after himself. However, him constantly telling Nemo what he can and can't do leads his son to resent his father at times, eventually leading Nemo to rebel against him.
- In-Series Nickname: "Marty," "Clown boy," "Mr. Grumpy Gills," "Jellyman," "Mr. Fish"... not many characters actually refer to him by his real name.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he is mostly polite and friendly, Marlin is extremely overprotective towards Nemo, doesn't trust in him very much and can be harsh towards Dory from time to time, such as when he accidentally tells her that forgetting is the only thing she can do, when he knows very well that she suffers from terrible amnesia. However, he is a pretty nice guy most of the time and everything he does is out of love for his son and later, even Dory.
- Leitmotif: Nemo Egg (Main Title)
, a soft, lullaby-esque piano piece associated with both Marlin and Nemo that plays during tender moments. - Living Emotional Crutch: Becomes this for Dory. She says being with him helps her remember things better.
- Love Hurts: A rare non-romantic, parent-child example. Marlin's extreme obsession with Nemo's safety is genuinely out of love for him, but when his son rebels and tells him he hates him (though he doesn't actually mean it), he is devastated, and believes that Nemo doesn't love him anymore and that he doesn't appreciate his love for him.
- Nervous Wreck: Due to the trauma of losing most of his family Marlin is always worried and anxious about what might happen next. His adventures help him overcome this somewhat.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In Finding Nemo, Nemo had absolutely no intention of actually swimming out to the boat, until Marlin intervenes, scolds him and tries to rip away what little agency the kid had, finally pushing him over the edge enough to swim out and touch it.
- Only Sane Man: Meeting a lot of crazy fish on their way and hanging around with a Cloudcuckoolander unsurprisingly makes him this.
- Orange/Blue Contrast: Serves as the orange contrast to Dory's blue.
- Outliving One's Offspring: At the beginning of the film, all of his and Coral's eggs get eaten by a barracuda, except one.
- Papa Wolf: Scared or not; he will face sharks, deadly jellyfish and a whale if it means he will get his son back.
- Parental Substitute: Acts like this to Dory, to an extent. The creators state that Dory was introduced to serve as a surrogate child so Marlin could re-adapt his parenting approach.
- Platonic Life-Partners: With Dory.
- Properly Paranoid: Considering how his family, aside from Nemo, was killed by a barracuda, it's hard to fault him for being at least a little nervous about the dangers of the ocean.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue Oni to Dory's Red Oni. It's actually kinda ironic, seeing their colors are reversed.
- Safety Freak: Because his son Nemo narrowly escaped being eaten by a barracuda like his mother and the rest of his siblings as an egg, Marlin is obsessively protective of him, having him check four times for danger before leaving the house, worrying that he's broken a bone, and apparently once freaking out at a petting zoo because "that snail was about to charge".
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: The Savvy Guy to Dory's Energetic Girl.
- Shrouded in Myth: His misadventures, along with alterations to the tale through oral history, made him the undersea, clownfish version of Chuck Norris.
- Stunned Silence: Marlin is rendered completely speechless when Nemo utters "I hate you" to him.
- Suddenly Fluent in Gibberish: Marlin is not impressed with Dory's apparent skill to speak whale, believing she is talking gibberish. However, when it turns out she can and the whale that swallowed them is taking them to Sydney, Marlin is ecstatic and tries to thank the whale by speaking its dialect. Dory then responds with "Wow. I wish I could speak whale."
- Took a Level in Badass: Marlin goes from a neurotic, overprotective worrywart to a full on Action Survivor.
- Took a Level in Cheerfulness: His journey to find his son allowed Marlin to loosen up and learn to have fun again.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Sort of. Marlin was initially a very playful, happy, and easygoing clownfish as shown through the interaction with his wife. The death of Coral and all his kids (sans Nemo) turns him into a pessimistic, neurotic worrywart who has the occasional outburst.
- Was Too Hard on Him: Marlin comes to feel this way towards Nemo. He has this again in the sequel after yelling at Dory, which is not helped by his son constantly reminding him about it.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: While Marlin is only overly paranoid and overprotective because he loves Nemo and wants him to be safe, his overprotectiveness and refusal to stop babying his son causes the two to have a very strained relationship. This strained relationship is exactly what leads to Nemo rebelling and getting captured.
Dory
A Pacific blue regal tang with short term memory loss, Dory becomes Marlin's companion during his search for Nemo. Ditzy and absent-minded, but optimistic and honest, Dory provides much moral support and comfort that Marlin has been missing for years. She becomes the protagonist of Finding Dory.
- AcCENT upon the Wrong SylLABle: Mispronounces the word "escape" as "es-KA-pay" while in the submarine.
- Accidental Misnaming: Continuously keeps misremembering Nemo's name (e.g. Fabio, Elmo, Harpo, Bingo). However, by Finding Dory she's gotten much better at remembering names and only gets another character's name wrong once.
- Animal Talk: Can speak and understand whales - then she forgets that she can.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Dory suffers from Anterograde amnesia. As she can only remember a relatively short span of time clearly, it's easy for her to forget what she was originally doing and thus is likely to switch to a new topic. It runs in her family... she thinks. Although the sequel proves her wrong.
- Badass Unintentional: She just wants to be Marlin's friend and does some pretty awesome things.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Dory pulls this on a rude crab when he refuses to tell her where Marlin went, and she uses a Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique to make him talk.
- Blipvert:
- Experiences this when she remembers Sydney after Marlin abandons her.
- She has this again in the beginning of the sequel, when Nemo mentions The Jewel of Morro Bay, California, causing Dory to recall her parents for the first time in years.
- Break the Cutie: When she ends up in a tank with some other blue tangs who knew her parents, she thinks that they may have died and goes down the drainpipe to the ocean, frantically swimming about the dark ocean and asking other fish for help, just before she discovers that she's coming close to finding her parents' place.
- Breakout Character: The most popular character in Finding Nemo, and subsequently the protagonist of Finding Dory!
- Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario: Marlin abandons Dory after his Despair Event Horizon, but reunites with her when she finds Nemo.
- Cerebus Retcon: Certain Hidden Depths abilities she showed in the first movie are explained when she's searching for her roots in the second.
- Chekhov's Skill: Her ability to speak in whale dialects.
- Cloudcuckoolander: She makes an art out of this.
- Cool Big Sis: She seemed to fill this role toward Nemo when she was temporarily living with him and Marlin in the beginning of Finding Dory.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: In the first film the main character is Marlin, an uptight, anxiety-ridden widower and single father looking for his missing son. In the second film it's Dory, a carefree, scatterbrained amnesiac woman looking for her missing parents.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Dory was separated from her parents as a child and to had to survive on her own. Something that wasn't easy because of her short-term memory loss.
- Determinator: She is quite persistent in hoping to find her parents in the second film, and just when she's about to lose hope after going through the drainpipe to the ocean and swimming about to get some visual clues, she finds her parents' place.
- The Ditz: In spades, but it's mostly due to her short term memory loss rather than actual stupidity.
- Fearless Fool: Memory loss or no, she's not afraid of anything, which can be dangerous in the wrong situations. When in the middle of a school of jellyfish, Marlin starts to panic while Dory happily bounces around on the jellyfish tops, unaware of the stinging tentacles.
- Forgetful Jones: Played for laughs, but sympathetically, in the first movie: presented as tragic in the second. She has trouble processing new memories and retrieving old ones. She manages to maintain a long-term goal in Finding Dory, but only through constant reminders from companions or the environment.
- Foil: She serves as this to Marlin, being a comical and cheerful character in contrast to Marlin who is typically serious and depressed. Incidentally, Marlin becomes much more cheerful after meeting her and Dory starts remembering better.
- Gender Flip: The writer explains on the DVD commentary that in fact Dory was originally male, until he saw Ellen DeGeneres on television and realized that was the sweet-but-scattered tone he was looking for.
- Genius Ditz: Despite her ditzy nature, she is quick to come up with solutions, knows how to read human writing, understands whale language to communicate with them, and knows a lot of random facts that she learned in her childhood at the Marine Life Institute.
- Genki Girl: Her perkiness and high energy buoy all her friends in rough times, or just annoy them.
- Hope Springs Eternal: Pretty good at invoking this with her "Just keeping swimming" mantra.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: According to director Andrew Stanton, one of Dory's fears is that she would get ditched all the time by fishes she tries to befriend. She tries to ensure she can be friendly and helpful as possible in hopes that someone will stick around with her, which is evident in the original movie, as Dory is heartbroken when Marlin tells her that he wants her to leave so that he continue the search for Nemo on his own and after he leaves her behind after thinking that Nemo died.
- Indy Ploy: In the second film, it is revealed that she has a particular talent for this. So much that the question "What would Dory do?" gets Marlin and Nemo out of some sticky situations.
- Living Emotional Crutch: To Marlin. Dory's optimism, easy-going nature and encouragement help rein in his neurotic side and keeps him focused.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: A non-romantic example. Her energy and quirkiness help Marlin loosen up in Finding Nemo, while in the sequel her optimism helps Hank get over his fear of others and convinces him to return to the sea rather than spend the rest of his days in an exhibit.
- Misery Trigger: Dory gets very sad when someone gives off the impression that they don't like her.
- Motor Mouth: Dory does seem to talk a lot to the point that it irritates Merlin.
- Nice Girl: Dory's a bit ditzy, but she's very friendly and will go out of her way to help anyone in need. Despite being busy searching for her parents, she immediately puts it on hold to help Marlin, a total stranger, search for his son across miles of ocean.
- The Not-Love Interest: To Marlin. Most of the movie consists of their dialogue with each other, they share body contact often, and even though Dory is not attentive most of the time, she truly worries for Marlin. Yet it's not a romance, just a case where two friends of opposite gender make each others' lives richer.
- Orange/Blue Contrast: Serves as the blue and black contrast to Marlin's orange and white.
- Platonic Life-Partners: With Marlin. All their interactions are played strictly platonic with neither expressing anything beyond friendship. This is further emphasized in the sequel where it opens with Dory living with Marlin and Nemo. Throughout the movie, she’s treated like a member of their family rather than a love interest for Marlin.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: Dory begs Marlin not to go following his Despair Event Horizon, telling him that when he's around that she remembers things better.
- Plucky Comic Relief: She provides most of the comic beats in the first movie, and is fairly goofy even as the protagonist.
- Plucky Girl: Considering what she's had to go through, her ability to remain so upbeat is quite impressive.
- The Pollyanna: Always happy-go-lucky and optimistic.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red Oni to Marlin's Blue Oni.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Baby Dory is pretty much made of raw, unadulterated "UWAAAAAHHH!" material.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Energetic Girl to Marlin's Savvy Guy.
- Smarter Than You Look: As her Genius Ditz section notes, Dory is more intelligent than she appears.
- Success Through Insanity: Nemo and eventually Marlin and Hank regard her as this. Marlin even admits in Finding Dory that no matter how crazy an idea she comes up with, it works.
- Suddenly Bilingual: She apparently can read Spanish as well as English (and speak Whale). Justified in the second movie: she presumably got a lot of practice at the aquarium she was born in.
- Suddenly Fluent in Gibberish: Knows how to speak whale but Marlin is skeptical about it. When her skills gets them to Sydney, Marlin thanks the whale in its dialect, and Dory wishes that she could speak whale. This ability leads her back to one of her childhood friends in Finding Dory.
- Survival Mantra: "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming."
- Too Dumb to Live: Has moments of this, such as being oblivious to the danger involved in hanging out with some sharks she has just met, or in being surrounded by a colony of jellyfishes.
Nemo
Voiced by: Alexander Gould (Finding Nemo), Hayden Rolence (Finding Dory) Other voice actors
Marlin's son. The sole survivor of a barracuda attack, Nemo grows up with a "lucky fin" that did not develop properly. He is very curious and brave, but sheltered. His father's overprotectiveness has kept him from attending school and having adventures. He is captured by divers and placed in a dentist's fish tank, earning the nickname "Sharkbait" for aiding in their escape. In the second movie, he moves from protagonist to Marlin's rather funny moral support.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Nemo loves his father dearly, but he is often annoyed and exasperated by his overprotective behavior (and in the sequel when he tells Dory to just forget everything). He even tells him that he hates him early in the first movie when he gets too fed up with Marlin's overprotectiveness. However, it is clearly established that they do in fact love each other despite this.
- The Baby of the Bunch: By far the youngest member of the Tank Gang, as he's a child while the rest are all presumably adults. The gang all act as a sort of surrogate family to him during his stay in the tank, with Gill even taking on a fatherly role for him in Marlin's absence.
- Badass Adorable: He was willing to risk his life to jam the filter after hearing about all his father had done to come and save him.
- Beware the Nice Ones: When Marlin went too far as he gets angry at Nemo when he tries to swim off to the drop-off by himself and tells him he can't do everything he thinks he can. Nemo didn't hesitate to tell him to his face that he hates him then touches the boat to prove it. Unfortunately, it isn't a smart and safe choice when he gets abducted by two human divers which Marlin has to chase after leading him to Sydney.
- Bilingual Bonus: "Nemo" is a reference to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, where Captain Nemo chose the name because it means "nobody" in his own language.
- Cheerful Child: Played straight, personality-wise.
- Chekhov's Skill: Learning from Gill, Nemo uses the technique of swimming down to save Dory and a whole net of fish.
- Compact Infiltrator: Out of all the fish in the dentist's tank, Nemo is the only one small enough to fit into the filter, so he's the one assigned to block it up.
- Dark and Troubled Past: When he was only an egg, his siblings and mother were killed by a barracuda. The attack damaged his egg, resulting in a disabled fin.
- Deadpan Snarker: In Finding Dory, he's written as sometimes snarking at his father.
- Depending on the Writer: His aforementioned snarking can be seen as this, as the second film didn't have all the same writers as the first.
- Determinator: After learning from Nigel that his dad had been swimming the entire ocean to find and rescue him, Nemo gains a renewed sense of confidence and becomes determined to escape from the tank and reunite with him.
- Distressed Dude: He's captured at the beginning and trapped in an aquarium for most of the film.
- Fun with Flushing: Nemo's escape plan involves him being flushed down the dentist's toilet to the ocean.
- Grilling the Newbie: He gets a friendly version from the Tank Gang.
- Handicapped Badass: He was born with an atrophied fin but, despite that, he is a dauntless little fish.
- Heroic BSoD: After he is nearly killed by the fish tank's fan, believing he'd let Gill down.
- Jerkass Ball: Nemo is a good kid who wants to make friends and impress his dad but he has his immature moment after Marlin learns that Nemo's going near the open ocean and stops him. As their argument between them escalated regarding the open ocean. Nemo coldly tells Marlin he hates him, then touches the boat in the open ocean to spite Marlin, much to the latter's horror. It eventually backfires when he gets abducted by two human divers prompting Marlin to chase after them to rescue his son.
- Keet: Nemo's very first scene is him bouncing around the anemone while excited for his first day of school.Get up, get up! Time for school! Time for school! Time for school! Time for school! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Whoa! (falls outside the anemone)
- Leitmotif: Nemo Egg (Main Title), a soft, lullaby-esque piano piece associated with both Marlin and Nemo that plays during tender moments.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Nemo is Marlin's only family and he will do anything to keep him safe.
- Nice Guy: Polite, kind, sweet, pleasant, gentle, and valiant. He goes out of his way to help Dory — a total stranger to him — out when he sees her in trouble, and repeatedly defends her when Marlin is mean to her.
- Secondary Character Title: His father Marlin is the protagonist. The movie's title is in reference to how Marlin's primary motivation is to find his missing son.
- Sole Survivor: Nemo is presumably the only one of Marlin and Coral's children to have survived the barracuda attack.
- Interestingly, the planned sequel by Circle 7 Animation would have revealed he had a long-lost brother. However, as none of the original creators would have worked on it, it’s unlikely it would even be considered canon with the original film.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Downplayed; Nemo's still generally nice, but Finding Dory gives him a notably sarcastic streak aimed at his father.
- Took a Level in Smartass: In the first film, Nemo was a typical Nice Guy and Cheerful Child. However, the sequel gives him a bit of a sarcastic streak, which is mainly aimed at his father.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: He is wiser than Marlin in Finding Dory, likely since he went through a great deal of events in the first film that no doubt taught him a lot and unlike Marlin, all of his Character Development stuck.
The Tank Gang
Gill
Voiced by: Willem Dafoe Other voice actors
A Moorish idol and the leader of the Tank Gang.
- Cruel to Be Kind: He refuses to let anyone help Nemo when he gets stuck in the filter pipe, but only because he knows that Nemo is capable of getting himself out.Gill: Calm down. Now, alternate wiggling your fins and your tail.
Nemo: I can't, I have a bad fin!
Gill: Never stopped me. - Dark Is Not Evil: A sinister-looking Moorish Idol, but he actually helps Nemo and the other fish in the fish tank escape back into the ocean.
- Determinator: He will almost never give up his dream of escaping from the fish tank and returning to the ocean, despite the fact that all of his previous efforts have failed.Nemo: How may times have you tried to get out?
Gill: Ah, I lost count. Fish aren't meant to be in a box, kid. It does things to ya. - Didn't Think This Through: When he and the Tank Gang finally escape to the ocean in The Stinger, they're still stuck inside their fish bags, with no apparent way to get out.
- Elephant in the Room: Averted. Nemo immediately notices his bad fin, but hesitates to ask about it. Gill, however, doesn't mind telling the story.Gill: My first escape. Landed on dentist tools. I was aiming for the toilet.
- Foil: To Marlin. Marlin is obsessively overprotective of Nemo because of his disability, but Gill makes a point that Nemo's small fin is no excuse to coddle him.
- Good Is Not Nice: At first, at least. His goal is to get him and the other fish out of the tank and into the ocean, but is so determined to do so that he risks Nemo's safety. He's not exactly cuddly through the rest of the film, but he doesn't try to risk Nemo's life again.
- Great Escape: He is always planning new schemes to get the Tank Gang out of the tank and back into the ocean.
- Guile Hero: Even though his plans (almost) always fail. He's atypical in that he appears somewhat uncomfortable in this role: he has a My God, What Have I Done? after Nemo almost gets killed by the tank filter while partaking in one of his plans.
- Handicapped Badass: Like Nemo, he has a bad fin on one side. In his case, rather than being a congenital atrophy, his was caused by his fin being badly mangled when he landed on the dentist's tools during a failed escape attempt.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Gill's face is strikingly similar to Willem Dafoe's, notably the wrinkles around his mouth.
- Intergenerational Friendship: He takes on a mentor like role to Nemo.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's certainly not nice most of the time, but isn't a bad guy.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Despite his desperation to return to the ocean, he refuses to continue his escape plan when Nemo almost dies trying to block the filter.Peach: (holding a sobbing Nemo) Gill... don't make him go back in there.
Gill: ...No. We're done. - The Leader: He's the mastermind of the Tank Gang who constantly comes up with escape plans to get them out of the tank and back to the ocean.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Has one after his initial escape plan fails and nearly gets Nemo killed, which leads to this exchange:Nemo: I'm sorry I couldn't stop—
Gill: No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I was so ready to get out, so ready to taste that ocean, that I was willing to put you in harm's way to get there. Nothing should be worth that. I'm sorry I couldn't get you back to your father, kid. - Mysterious Past: Nothing is known of his life before he was captured and put into the tank.
- Old Soldier: Well, he acts like one, anyway.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He almost always refers to Nemo as "Sharkbait" since inducting him into the Gang, but upon fearing he's been killed by the filtration fan when he jams it, he worriedly refers to him as "Nemo."
- Papa Wolf: In the climactic scene in the dentist's office, he flings himself onto Darla's head, risking his own life to save Nemo's.
- Parental Substitute: Gill acts as something of a surrogate father to Nemo while in the tank.
- Rugged Scar: He has a ragged fin and a scar that runs across his mouth from previous escape attempts.
- Scars Are Forever: He has multiple scars and a damaged fin, mostly from injuries inflicted during his various escape attempts.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Starts out being rather cold towards Nemo, considering he was unwilling to help him, and is interested in him primarily because he believes Nemo will be able to help him escape from the tank. Over time, however, he begins to genuinely care for Nemo and eventually helps him escape alone to reunite with his dad. When Nemo almost dies the first time he tries to block the filter, he's visibly shaken.
- Truth in Television: In a sense. While they haven't been known to make wacky escape attempts, Moorish idols are infamously known for not taking captivity well.
- Unreliable Narrator: A deleted scene has Gill telling Nemo that he comes from a place called Bad Luck Bay, and that he had several brothers (Marco, Polo, Lester, Linus) and a sister named Lulu, out in the ocean. Later, Nemo sees a human in the dentist office reading this exact backstory in a storybook called "Bad Luck Bay," in the same tone to boot, which casts doubt on whether Gill is actually from the ocean at all, or if he's just as crazy as the rest of the Tank Gang.
Bloat
Voiced by: Brad Garrett Other voice actors
A porcupine fish.
- Big Eater: He even eats the algae that grows after the tank gets dirty, much to Gurgle's disgust.
- Character Tics: When he gets scared or agitated, he puffs up, and then one of the other fish has to deflate him.
- Curtains Match the Windows: He's a brownish-gold fish with brown eyes.
- Gasshole: Well, he is a blow fish.
- Hot-Blooded: According to Andrew Stanton, although it doesn't come up much in his interactions with others aside from Gurgle.
- Large Ham: Especially during Nemo's "initiation" into the Tank Gang.
- Meaningful Name: A blowfish that bloats up.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Gurgle. While burps on him, argues with him, and even smacks him for unintentionally mentioning Darla around a depressed Nemo, the two are still clearly friends.
Peach
Voiced by: Allison Janney Other voice actors
A starfish.
- Ambiguous Gender: Despite being a female, she has a somewhat androgynous-sounding voice. Makes sense when you realize that most real-life starfish species reproduce asexually.
- I Warned You: She's the only one who doesn't think it's a good idea to send Nemo into the filter to jam it with a rock. She gets proven right when the rock dislodges from the filter and it starts sucking Nemo back in, nearly getting him shredded alive.
- Motor Mouth: She spends most of her time stuck to the edge of the tank, so whenever she talks to her tankmates it involves peeling herself off and then rushing the line out before she falls back.
- Nice Girl: She's very kind and caring.
- Phrase Catcher: She sometimes forgets to pull her face away from the glass when trying to talk to the gang, so a friend has to call out to her."Can't hear ya, Peach."
- Pink Means Feminine: Although she is a starfish, so it makes sense.
- Straight Man: She is the least quirky of the Tank Gang and often serves as the voice of reason.
- Team Mom: To the Tank Gang and especially to Nemo, seeing as he's just a kid.
- Two Girls to a Team: She and Deb are the only two female members of the Tank Gang.
Gurgle
Voiced by: Austin Pendleton Other voice actors
A royal gramma.
- All There in the Script: His name isn't mentioned during the film itself, and only appears in the credits.
- The Cynic: He is incredibly pessimistic.
- Large Ham: "Curse you, AquaSCUUUUUUM!!!"
- Neat Freak: When he learns that Nemo is from the ocean he immediately gets Jacques to clean him. Also is visibly shaking and really nervous when the tank is really dirty for their escape plan.
- Nervous Wreck: He's by far the most neurotic member of the Tank Gang, and more generally the most neurotic member of the cast along with Marlin. He's especially paranoid about dirt uncleanliness, and contamination."JACQUES!! CLEAN HIM!!!"
- Terrified of Germs: Very much. He's terrified by the thought of external dirt or germs entering the tank and, when the tank is purposefully made filthy, he is all but curling up in a ball.
Bubbles
Voiced by: Stephen Root Other voice actors
A yellow tang.
- Cloudcuckoolander: His obsession with bubbles.
- The Ditz: As demonstrated by this conversation.
- Dumb Blonde: He's a yellow tang and the least intelligent member of the Tank Gang.
- G-Rated Drug: His obsession with bubbles can border on such.
- Meaningful Name: He really likes bubbles.
- Nice Guy: He's friendly and kind... and a complete ditz.
- Sanity Slippage: It's implied that Bubbles went insane and developed his obsession with bubbles after being stuck in the dentist's tank too long.Gill: Fish aren't meant to be in a box, kid. [glances at Bubbles] It does things to you.
Deb
Voiced by: Vicki Lewis Other voice actors
A blue-and-white humbug damselfish.
- Cloudcuckoolander: She believes that she has a twin sister named "Flo." It's actually just her reflection off the tank's glass. Truth in Television; fish are very small-minded animals and tend to believe their reflection is another fish.
- Curtains Match the Windows: A blue fish with blue eyes.
- The Ditz: She seems delusional as she thinks her reflection is her sister named Flo, who may or may not exist. Not as uncommon as you would think- many fish have this strange thought.
- Genki Girl: Not to the point of Dory but still there.
- Meaningful Name: Deb's name and her imaginary sister's together allude to "ebb and flow", the movement of water, often in relation to natural tides.
- Nice Girl: Deb is a kind fish.
- Punny Name: She and her "sister" are a play on 'Ebb and Flow'.
- Two Girls to a Team: She and Peach are the only two female members of the Tank Gang.
Jacques
Voiced by: Joe Ranft (Finding Nemo), Jerome Ranft (Finding Dory) Other voice actors
A Pacific cleaner shrimp who speaks French. We're not sure where he came from either.
- Bilingual Bonus: Most of his French phrases.
- Funny Foreigner: Produces humor through his stereotypical French traits, such as feelers shaped like a curly mustache, accompaniment by accordion music, and peppering his speech with gratuitous French.
- Gratuitous French: Peppers his English speech with French phrases such as "Oui!" for extra flavor.
- Neat Freak: Jacques "decontaminates" new fish to the tank in the dentist's office. When the tank fish conspire to let the tank get dirty, they have to remind Jacques to stop himself when he starts cleaning a bit out of sheer habit.
- Nice Guy: He's friendly and kind.
Nigel
Voiced by: Geoffrey Rush Other voice actors
An Australian pelican. Technically not part of the Tank Gang but still frequently hangs out with them, mostly to watch the dentist's patients.
- Cultural Rebel:
- Played With. He does eat fish, but he's not above befriending them, and wouldn't harm any fish friends.Sorry if I ever took a snap at ya. Fish gotta swim, birds gotta eat.
- According to All There in the Manual, other pelicans find him weird because he likes dentistry. Which makes sense, since pelicans are toothless and have no need for such knowledge.
- Played With. He does eat fish, but he's not above befriending them, and wouldn't harm any fish friends.
- Everyone Has Standards: He does eat fish, but he takes no pleasure from it and only does so because he needs to in order to survive; he makes a point to never eat any fish he's personally befriended.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Gerald according to All There in the Manual. Hinted at in the film when Nigel is the only one who actually tries to help him when he's choking.
- Instant Messenger Pigeon: He delivers the news of Marlin's journey to Nemo.
- Large Ham: It's pretty clear that Geoffrey Rush had a blast when voicing this line:Nigel: (as the Seagulls continually clamor for fish) Oh, would you just shuuuuuuuutttt UUUUUPPP! You rats with wings!
- Motor Mouth: He's prone to babbling, either when excited or talking about dentistry.
- Nice Guy: Probably one of the friendliest, most helpful characters in the movie, with probably only Crush and Dory beating him.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The last we see of him is him apologizing to Marlin and Dory before flying off. He doesn't appear in the second film either.
Minor Antagonists
The Barracuda
Voiced by: N/A
A great barracuda responsible for killing Coral along with her and Marlin's other children.
- Artistic License – Biology: Barracudas don't eat eggs (or clownfish, for that matter). Lampshaded by Marlin who tries to assure Coral that the eggs will be okay as long as she doesn't give the barracuda a reason to attack. She doesn't listen.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Marlin tries to fend it off when it charges. It goes about as well as you'd think...
- Death by Cameo: The creators confirm that this is the same barracuda that appears stuffed and mounted on the wall in Toy Story 4. Serves him right.
- The Dreaded: Big time, since the neighborhood totally cleared out when he makes the scene.
- Evil Egg Eater: Though is left for interpretation, as the change of luminosity in the water implies Marlin was out for several hours, where another animal could have done the deed, he seems to have eaten Nemo's siblings still in egg stage.
- Fiendish Fish: It's a scary, predatory killer that comes out of nowhere, and Marlin and Coral are powerless to stop it.
- Greater-Scope Villain: He's only a threat in the opening scene, but everything behind Nemo's bad fin, Marlin's overprotective nature (leading to Nemo's rebellious nature), and basically Nemo and Marlin as the only members of their clownfish family left can be traced back to him. Then again, he's not really villainous—he's just a predator needing to consume his prey to survive.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: As noted under Death by Cameo, someone eventually caught the barracuda and taxidermized him to display as a fishing trophy at Second Chance Antiques. Whomever did so, although obviously unintentionally, avenged Coral and all the children Marlin would have had.
- Incorrect Animal Noise: It can be heard growling softly when stalking Marlin and Coral's nest and utters a long, lion-like roar when it attacks.
- Noisy Nature: Nope, barracudas don't roar like that.
- Non-Malicious Monster: Even though its actions caused the loss of Marlin's family save for Nemo, it's just a predatory creature that needs to eat.
- Rule of Scary: While barracudas, like many fishes, are not able to utter sounds, this one does as it attacks Marlin and Coral's eggs, likely due to this trope.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He was only in the movie for roughly thirty seconds, but is (presumably) responsible for eating Marlin's wife and all but one of their children, thus turning Marlin into the Helicopter Parent he is today, which sets up the conflict for the rest of the film.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Along with the anglerfish, it's one of the more frightening creatures in the film. Furthermore, it (presumably) kills and eats Coral and all of her children apart from Nemo.
- Would Hurt a Child: Justified. He killed Coral and Marlin's children (sans Nemo), but he is a predator.
The Anglerfish
Voiced by: N/A
An anglerfish Marlin and Dory run into after following the diver's mask into a pitch-black trench.
- Always a Bigger Fish: An example that is oddly both somewhat literal and ironic. In a post-credits scene, she gets Eaten Alive by Blenny, the fish that Anchor brought as his friend earlier. The ironic part is that Blenny is actually much smaller than her.
- Animalistic Abomination: How Marlin and Dory see her. Indeed, she's never referred to by any species name and is seen more as a horrifying creature than a normal animal. Justified, as neither of them have seen a creature like this.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Invoked; she lures fish in with her light, then eats them.
- Eaten Alive: In a post-credits scene, she gets swallowed in one bite by the tiny green fish that Chum brought to the sharks' meeting.
- Female Monster Surprise: Younger audiences might not realize that this is actually female. Any biologist who is quite familiar with anglerfish would tell you that anglerfish like the one seen in the movie are female and the males of the species are much smaller and lack the bioluminescent lure characteristic of the species.
- Hell Is That Noise: The shriek it makes, especially when it finally shows itself.
- Light Is Not Good: She uses her luminescent lure to catch her victims.
- Luring in Prey: While chasing after the diver's mask, Marlin and Dory dive deeper and deeper into the sea until it's so dark that they can hardly see. They are then attracted by a small glowing orb which turns out to be an anglerfish's lure, used to distract prey. Both interact with it and Marlin is eventually snapped up by the fish, but holds onto the lure so tightly that the fish can't swallow him and she eventually spits him out.
- Nightmare Face: Huge blank eyes, giant teeth, cavernous mouth, etc. This is Truth in Television.
- Non-Malicious Monster: Like the Barracuda, while she's just hunting to survive, she's nevertheless scary and antagonistic.
- Nothing Is Scarier: The only thing Dory and Marlin see of it is its hypnotic light. As it ascends, what descends behind them are long, razor-sharp teeth and big, blank, bug-like eyes.
- Rule of Scary: Like the barracuda, it utters noises, namely vicious snarls and screeches.
- Scary Teeth: Like all anglerfish, she has a ferocious set of teeth.
- The Smurfette Principle: Aside from Dory and Darla, she is the only notable female involved on the journey to find Nemo.
The Jellyfish
Voiced by: N/A
A bloom of jellyfish that Dory and Marlin run into on their way to Sidney. While they're essentially passive beings and don't seem to directly move against the travelers, they still present a dangerous obstacle due to their numbers and toxicity.
- Don't Go in the Woods: They're referred to as a "forest".
- The Dreaded: Marlin immediately panics when he realizes that Dory has found a baby jellyfish, and it only gets worse when he sees a whole swarm of them coming. Additionally, most of fish who hear of Marlin's exploits are quite shocked to learn that he was able to get through them and even the turtles (whose offspring eat jellyfish) are impressed enough with Marlin fighting his way through them to nickname him "Jelly Man".
- Electric Jellyfish: All of their stings have a "zap" sound effect.
- The Speechless: They say nothing. Which makes sense, since they have no mouths. Oddly enough, Squishy makes a squeal after Marlin tailwhacks it away.
- The Swarm: There's a ton of them. They're referred to as a "jellyfish forest".
The Seagulls
"MINE MINE MINE MINE!"
Voiced by: Andrew Stanton, Jan Rabson, and Jess Harnell
A flock of seagulls who are minor antagonists, only caring for food. They are rather stupid and only say "Mine!"
- Beware the Silly Ones: While they don't look as threatening as the movie's other antagonists and behave in a ridiculous way, they are still hungry predators that represent a serious danger to small fish. They almost swallow Marlin and come dangerously close to pulling Dory apart in a matter of seconds, and if it wasn't for Nigel's help, neither of the two would have survived their encounter with the flock.
- Black Bead Eyes: They have a pair of forward-facing black eyes, unlike any other animal in the movie.
- Broken Record: "MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE"
- Character Catchphrase: "Mine?"
- The Dividual: They're a flock of some thirty or forty gulls, but they're also very flat characters with the same exact design, behavior and personality as one another, and all act together with the singular goal of eating food.
- Feathered Fiends: While not evil, they do pose a serious threat to the protagonists.
- Obliviously Evil: Though unlike most examples on this page, it seems that the seagulls are just too stupid to know any better.
- One-Track-Minded Hunger: One of their defining characteristics is their constant desire to feed.
- One-Word Vocabulary: "Mine!" That's the only thing that seem to know how to say, although they make for in repetition what they lack in vocabulary.
- The Swarm: There're at least thirty or forty of them in the flock.
- Too Dumb to Live: At one point, Nigel leads a group of them to crash into the sail of a boat. They eventually do seem to free themselves considering how Dory later interrogates a crab by threatening to feed him to one.
- Villainous Glutton: For a given definition of "villainous" — they don't seem to be actively evil per se, as they act more like hungry animals that happen to know how to say one word aloud, but their primary role in the movie is to act as voracious predators determined to eat the fish characters.
Humboldt Squid
A bioluminescent squid who is a minor antagonist in Finding Dory, as well as the sole new character in who isn't a part of the Marine Life Institute.
- Bioluminescence Is Cool: Not quite in its case, as it lets it notice potential prey in wreckage but also gives itself away. Justified in that they flash red rather than blue when in hunting mode, suggesting it wasn't actively looking for prey but just disturbed.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Of the barracuda in the first film. Like the barracuda, the Humboldt squid is a non-sapient predator who briefly appears and tries to eat the main characters. However, the barracuda appeared in the beginning of the movie and despite his brief appearance and having to share its screen time with other antagonistic forces, serves as the main catalyst for the first movie's conflict, while the Humboldt squid appears in the middle of this movie is the only antagonistic force found here but has nothing to do with its main conflict.
- The Dreaded: Cephalopods are major predators of crustaceans, so it makes sense that the local crabs would fear it even without taking its temperament into account.
- Giant Eye of Doom: It's a jumbo squid, which have disproportionately large eyes compared to most animals.
- Giant Squid: Well, not quite the real deal but it plays as one towards the main characters (considering relative size).
- Plot-Irrelevant Villain: The only antagonistic figure found in Finding Dory, but it has nothing to do with the main conflict and only appears for a short time.
- Super-Persistent Predator: It crashes through corten steel containers in an effort to catch two clownfish and a blue tang, only stops because one falls on it, and continues to try and snap at what are less than bite-sized snacks to it with a door slammed on one of its limbs.
- Tentacled Terror: It's big, it's mean, and it's hungry.
Other Animals
Coral
Voiced by: Elizabeth Perkins Other voice actors
Marlin's wife and Nemo's mother.
- Death by Origin Story: She dies in Marlin and Nemo's backstory trying to save her young from a barracuda.
- Didn't Think This Through: When the barracuda shows up, her first instinct is to rush in to protect her eggs instead of taking shelter. It's likely that the barracuda didn't even see the eggs to begin with, meaning that she gave away their position by rushing in to save them, which cost her her life and all of her eggs barring Nemo's.
- Explosive Breeder: She had over 400 eggs with Marlin. Truth in Television, since scientifically speaking, her kind usually lays between a hundred to a thousand eggs. Sadly for her and Marlin, only one of them could hatch.
- The Lost Lenore: To Marlin — losing her is one of the reasons he becomes so overprotective of Nemo.
- Mama Bear: She is killed when she tries to protect her eggs from a hungry barracuda.
- Missing Mom: She died trying to protect her eggs (including Nemo) from a barracuda, for which Nemo (her and Marlin's only surviving son) never got to meet her.
- Nice Girl: Before her death, Coral was a kind, caring wife to Marlin who'd even attack a barracuda to protect her eggs.
- Oh, Crap!: The look on her face when she's looking at the barracuda does little to hide the fact that she's likely screaming internally. note
- Only Sane Woman: Compared to Marlin. Possibly subverted when she goes to protect her fish eggs, which barracuda don't eat. Then again, they don't eat clownfish either, so the fact that it was sitting there waiting to eat them may have told her that her eggs were in danger as well. However, the barracuda most likely didn't even see them and probably would have just swam away had she listened to Marlin and gone back into the anemone.
- Plot-Triggering Death: The death of her and her babies made Marlin promise not to let anything happen to the one surviving child, leading to the movie's conflict.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Presumably gets eaten by a barracuda before the story actually even begins.
- Senseless Sacrifice: Subverted-her attempt to save her children fails and she gets eaten by the barracuda along with all of the eggs...well, all but one.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She only appears in the intro and never mentioned again afterwards, but Marlin's loss of her (and their 399 unborn children) is what made him the overprotective single father we see afterwards, not to mention put the entire plot in motion.
- Staring Down Cthulhu: Finds herself in a staring contest with a distant barracuda before she dives down to protect her children and it eats her.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: She is only shown in the beginning of the film, where she is eaten by the barracuda, along with her eggs, so all we know of her is that she and Marlin met a long time ago.
Pearl, Sheldon, and Tad
Voiced by: Erica Beck, Erik Per Sullivan, and Jordy Ranft Other voice actors
Nemo's friends and classmates. A flapjack octopus, a seahorse, and a yellow longnose butterflyfish, respectively.
- Abnormal Allergy: Sheldon the seahorse is allergic to water. Given that he lives underwater, he's quite the sneezer.
- All There in the Script: Pearl and Tad's names were not said once (but they were in the video game).
- Artistic License – Biology: Real octopi have their mouths under their heads, but Pearl has her mouth right below the eyes to make her look more anthropomorphized.
- Bowel-Breaking Bricks: Pearl: "Aw, you made me ink!" Truth in Television, as cephalopods release their ink when they're scared (it's a defensive reaction).
- Cheerful Child: All three of them.
- Demoted to Extra: They're not featured a lot in the original movie, but in the sequel, they're just background characters.
- Funny Octopus: Pearl, especially when she "inks."
- Innocently Insensitive: Tad says that Nemo "looks funny" because of his deformed fin. He doesn't mean anything by it, and even claims himself to be "obnoxious" as a sign of unity.
- Ironic Allergy: Sheldon is "H2O (water) intolerant." ACHOO!
- "Not So Different" Remark: They initially tease Nemo about his deformed fin, but Pearl admits that she has one tentacle shorter than the rest ("but you can't really tell"). Then Sheldon admits that he's H2O intolerant, while Tad just says "I'm obnoxious!"
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: They're all smaller, cuter versions of their dads.
- Small Role, Big Impact: They leave the plot altogether after the first few minutes, but them daring Nemo to touch the boat ends up getting Nemo kidnapped and sets the rest of the movie into action.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Them goading Nemo to touch the "butt" directly results in him being kidnapped by the dentist.
- The Voiceless: In the sequel, none of them get any lines.
Mr. Ray
Voiced by: Bob Peterson Other voice actors
A spotted eagle ray. Nemo's teacher at school.
- Cool Teacher: He's the jolliest science master working in marine education. He believes in the practical, taking his little fishy pupils for a ride on his back to teach them about the other creatures of the seabed and singing a whole bunch of memory-aiding ditties along the way. And the kids love him.
- A Dog Named "Dog": He is a spotted eagle ray named Mr. Ray.
- Educational Song: He sings one about the various species of marine life.
- Large Ham: He has shades of this, as he will often begin his statements with a very loud and drawn out high note before resuming with his lecture.
- Mellow Mantas: He's the friendly teacher to all the kids in the Great Barrier Reef. He lets them ride on his back and sings songs about all the sea creatures. Early on in Finding Dory, he goes on a migration with several other spotted eagle rays, and is enthusiastic to take the children on a field trip to educate them about migration.
- Move Along, Nothing to See Here: Pretty much word for word after he witnesses an angry Nemo tell Marlin he hates him for his overprotectiveness, and he ushers his class away before trying to smooth the situation over.
- Papa Wolf: He is very protective of his students, telling them to hide under him when danger approaches.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness:
- He talks this way during his introductory song in the first movie:Mr. Ray: Mesopelagic, bathyal, abyssalpelagic...
- Later, when the students are on a field trip, he says "Okay students, optical orbits up front, and remember, we keep our subesophangeal ganglion to ourselves."
- He talks this way during his introductory song in the first movie:
- Still Believes in Santa: One bonus feature reveals that despite being fully grown and a biology teacher, Mr. Ray thinks there's an underwater tooth fairy, who has a full-time job collecting sharks' teeth.
Bruce
A great white shark who wants to quit his habit of eating fish.
- Affably Evil: Subverted, in spite of initial appearances. While it initially seems like he's trying to use a polite act to lead Marlin and Dory to their doom, it turns out that he genuinely wants their company and later sympathizes with their journey out of genuine kindness. But when he smells blood...
- Ax-Crazy: Once he is exposed to smelling blood, Bruce loses all judgment and consciousness and becomes an absolutely deranged and homicidal fish-killing machine. Not even his own friends are able to control him. Just imagine Jack Torrance as a shark.
- Black Eyes of Crazy: Bruce has these once he smells blood... Subverted as it is simply his carnivorous tendencies acting up, he tries to control himself outside of these episodes.
- Blood Lust: Bruce is a nice shark, really. He just has trouble controlling his instinctive urge to eat fish once he smells Dory's blood.Bruce: Dory, are you o— (smells Dory's blood by accident, causing Black Eyes of Crazy) Ooooooh, that's good!
Anchor and Chum: INTERVENTION!! - Covers Always Lie: The film's entire advertising campaign heavily implied to audiences that Bruce is the Big Bad of the movie. This is not actually the case.
- Creepy Good: For being a shark, the other fish are terrified of him and his support group. Bruce is taking the necessary steps to be in control of his instincts and he's at least trying to fight the prejudice towards sharks.
- Disappeared Dad: By his own admission, Bruce never knew his father, which actually has scientific accuracy to it - after mating, male sharks avoid females when they become pregnant.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Implied to have gotten over his fish-eating habits by the end of the film.
- Emotional Bruiser: Despite being a big, imposing shark, he begins crying when Marlin explains that Nemo was kidnapped by divers.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Subverted, he's not evil at all, but he does have a "relapse" into his carnivore nature when he smells Dory's blood.
- Fantastic Racism: He, along with the others, harbours a strong dislike of humans. Though considering how humans treat his species thanks to a certain movie, can you blame him?
- Face of a Thug: Despite his good intentions, he still comes off initially as extremely terrifying since he is a giant Great White Shark.
- Freudian Excuse: When Bruce is frenzied by the smell of blood, Anchor insists that Bruce never knowing his father is part of how he developed this addiction/behavior.
- The Gadfly: He genuinely has no intention to eat Marlin or Dory, but that doesn't mean he's against Jump Scaring them, flashing his teeth in their faces and even laughing about it afterwards.
- Gentle Giant: He tries to be nice, at least, but he loses control over his predatory instincts when he smells blood.
- Large Ham: Particularly in "feeding frenzy" mode, in which he is bellowing every line like a pantomime actor.
- Meaningful Name: He is named after "Bruce," the code-name for the mechanical shark prop from Jaws. It's also a name associated with the common caricature of an Australian.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Only natural for a shark, of course, but his introduction plays it up for maximum sinister effect.
- Nice Guy: Despite appearances, he's very genuine about wanting to give up his habit of eating fish.
- Off the Wagon: His avoidance of eating fish is treated like an attempt to shake an addiction. A small whiff of Dory's blood is enough to make him relapse.
- Parental Abandonment: He cries that he never knew his father at one point. This is Truth in Television, as most sharks aren't particularly parental animals.
- Put on a Bus: He doesn't appear in Finding Dory.
- Scary Teeth: As a large shark, he has a full complement of multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth, which are shown off in great detail when he smiles.
- Shout-Out: To Jaws, seeing how the gargantuan great white in that movie (colloquially) shares the name with him.
- Slasher Smile: Bruce pulls off a terrifying smile after accidentally smelling blood and relapsing into a feral state.
- Terms of Endangerment: He seems to call small fish like Marlin and Dory "bites" as a bit of slang of some sort. It comes off this way initially thanks to his intimidating presence.
- Threatening Shark: Zig-zagged. Although he initially comes off as very threatening towards Marlin and Dory, he is actually a Nice Guy who honestly just wants to make friends with them. Unfortunately, he can't help his instincts when he accidentally gets a whiff of Dory's blood. His friends even Lampshade this:Anchor: Sorry about- [Bruce bashes the door] Bruce, mate!
Chum: He's really- [Bruce hits the door again] a nice guy! - Tropaholics Anonymous: Bruce is the president of a society for sharks who want to stop eating fish."Fish are friends, not food."
- Vegetarian Carnivore: He attempts to be one, at least. He's determined to shake the fish-eating habit and go vegetarian. Unfortunately for him, sharks are hypercarnivores by nature, and as such this requires battling against some very deeply ingrained instincts.
Anchor and Chum
Bruce's two friends, a great hammerhead and a mako shark respectively.
- Apologetic Attacker: Played with, as they're not the ones attacking, Bruce is, and they're trying to hold him back from causing any more damage.Chum: SORRY ABOUT— [thud] —BRUCE, MATE! [thud]
Anchor: HE'S REALLY— [thud] —A NICE GUY! [thud] - Black Comedy: Chum appears to have eaten his guest on the way to the meeting.
- Creepy Good: For being sharks, the other fish are terrified of them and Bruce. Like Bruce, they are taking the necessary steps to be in control of their instincts and they are at least trying to fight the prejudice towards sharks. Chum had a brief relapse when he ate his fish buddy, but the support group understands how hard it is to overcome their instincts and don't hold it against him.
- Face of a Thug: They're scary-looking guys, but genuinely nice.
- Fantastic Racism:
- They both seem to harbor a strong dislike for dolphins. Possibly inspired by tales of dolphins attacking sharks to protect themselves or humans, and the other way around.
- Humans, too. Especially Americans. Their dislike of humans as a whole may also be justified by the way humans have treated and threatened sharks as a dangerous bogeyman following the release of Jaws. This is especially true for Chum's case, as mako sharks are popular targets in trophy fishing. Not to mention the sizable fishhook lodged in one of his nostrils; if he's smelling his own blood frequently from that injury,
then this may even explain why out of the three sharks, he's the one implied to have simply eaten the fish guest he was supposed to bring with him to the meeting.
- Those Two Guys: They are always seen together.
- Tropaholics Anonymous: Ditto to Bruce.
- Vegetarian Carnivore: Like Bruce, although it's implied that Chum may have relapsed at some point.
Blenny
Voiced by: N/A
A small green fish that Anchor brings to the meeting as his "fish friend."
- Cowardly Lion: He's absolutely terrified to be at the shark meeting. In the post-credits scene, however, he gets over his fear of predators and eats the Anglerfish in one bite.
- Named by the Adaptation: He's left unnamed in the film, but is called Blenny in an officially licensed Macintosh game.
- Nervous Wreck: He's constantly quaking to the point where he never speaks and eventually sneaks off during the shark meeting.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Turns out he's actually quite capable of eating large predators despite his small size.
- The Quiet One: He doesn't say a word in the film. Justified, as he was likely so scared at the shark intervention that talking was the last thing on his mind at the time.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: He sneaks away after seeing that Chum ate his "fish friend."
- Took a Level in Badass: In the Stinger, he overcomes his cowardice and eats the Anglerfish in one bite!
The School of Moonfish
Voiced by: John Ratzenberger
A school of moonfish who give Marlin and Dory directions to Sydney. They also enjoy doing impressions.
- Deadpan Snarker: Especially towards Marlin.
- The Dividual: Despite the size of their school, they act as essentially a singular character — in fact, their extensive use of Synchronized Swarming means that they are also mostly drawn like a single character.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: After Dory explains that Marlin was upset because his son was missing, they warm up and offer to help them out. Even beforehand, they went out of their way to comfort Dory when it seemed like Marlin was bothering her and really only made fun of him in the first place for the latter reason.
- Synchronized Swarming: They can effortlessly form complex shapes like arrows, swordfish, octopuses, sailboats, the Sydney Opera House and more, and use this as one of their main forms of communication.
Crush
Voiced by: Andrew Stanton Other voice actors
A green sea turtle who helps Marlin and Dory find their way to Sydney.
- Breakout Character: Widely popular among audiences despite his relatively short role in the movie, he's placed prominently on many posters and DVD covers, Pixar made sure to give him a short appearance in the sequel, and he even got his own attraction at the Disney Theme Parks, Turtle Talk with Crush, an interactive show where you get to, well... talk with Crush.
- Creator Cameo: Voiced by director Andrew Stanton.
- Good Parents: He's a great dad to Squirt, knowing when to interfere and when to let him learn on his own. Marlin learns a thing or two from this.
- Nice Guy: A friendly guy who's all too happy to help Dory and Marlin out.
- The Nicknamer: Marlin is "dude" or "jellyman," Dory is "little blue."
- Older Than They Look: He's 150 years old, dude, and still young. This is partially Truth in Television, believe it or not, as many sea turtles are indeed capable of living this long, though for those that do, 150 is pretty much their maximum life expectancy.
- Surfer Dude: Played with. He's a turtle, but he has the laid-back personality.
- Totally Radical: The way he talks, dude.
- Verbal Tic: Crush tends to end his sentences with "dude," dude.
- Wise Old Turtle: He's a bit of a twist on the trope. While at first he doesn't act like a typical wise old mentor, being instead a laid-back Surfer Dude, he still gives Marlin useful advice for his quest... and when Marlin asks him his age, he answers that he's a hundred and fifty — and still young.
Squirt
Voiced by: Nicholas Bird (Finding Nemo), Bennett Dammann (Finding Dory) Other voice actors
Crush's son.
- Cheerful Child: Always smiling just about every second he's on screen and seems to be perpetually excited.
- Keet: He's full of energy.
- Put on a Bus: Subverted; he still appears in the second film, but is no longer a member of Nemo's class.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: He's small, has huge puppy-dog eyes, and has the energy of a seven-year-old boy. How can you NOT say "Awwww" when he's on screen?
- Verbal Tic: He has one like his father, dude.
The Whale
A blue whale encountered by Martin and Dory.
- Artistic Licence – Biology:
- In real life, a whale's blowhole and its mouth are not connected in any way — the blowhole is technically the nose, but cetaceans' respiratory tracts are, by necessity, very well-insulated from their digestive ones. Its basic role would still be fulfilled by it just letting the fish swim out of its open mouth at the end of the trip, but the "trust fall" moment between Dory and Nemo would not be possible.
- It also commits the very common cartoon animal sin of having a massive uvula hanging over its tongue, a feature owned only by humans.
- Gentle Giant: Belongs to the largest existing species of mammal, which can be up to 30 meters (98 feet) long and 173 tonnes (191 short tons) in weight. Nonetheless, he mainly feeds on tiny crustaceans called krill and doesn't mean to harm larger fish like Marlin and Dory.
- Monster Whale: Subverted. While a whale does end up very nearly consuming Marlin and Dory, and Marlin very much acts like they've been swallowed by a terrifying sea monster, it does so unintentionally and turns out to be friendly, giving them some advice that helps them escape its mouth before it can accidentally swallow them.
- The Unintelligible: He only speaks a "whale" language consisting of low-frequency vocalizations that Marlin cannot understand. Dory claims to be able to speak whale, despite Martin's disbelief, and it turns out she's right.
Humans
Dr. Philip Sherman
Voiced by: Bill Hunter Other voice actors
The dentist who "rescues" Nemo from the reef and puts him in his fish tank, thus setting up the main plot of the film.
- All There in the Script: His name is only mentioned on the scuba mask (as simply "P. Sherman"). His first name Philip is not said at all.
- Big Bad: While the fishing boat is the Final Boss, he's the reason Nemo is kidnapped in the first place, kicking off the rest of the story. Though it's downplayed, since he's more Obliviously Evil than actively malevolent; from his point of view, he's just rescuing an injured and stricken fish which probably wouldn't last long in its natural environment and giving it a nice safe home.
- Humans Are Cthulhu: To the fish when in his scuba diving gear.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: His Establishing Character Moment shows he's more of this than the usual dentist, accidentally pulling a tooth without anesthesia and joking about it shortly after. That being said, he's a relatively friendly guy and loves his niece.
- The Kindnapper: Why did he take Nemo? Because he (not unreasonably) thought the young clownfish was going to die if he didn't.
- Lethally Stupid: He keeps giving fish to his niece despite the fact that she keeps killing them by shaking their bags.
- Papa Wolf: He's willing to tackle a pelican he believes is terrorizing his niece.
- Obliviously Evil: He was under the impression that Nemo was struggling and dying away from the coral reef and is unaware that he separated a child from his father. Similarly, he is oblivious to the fact that the fish in his tank are miserable and wish to be freed into the ocean. Additionally, since no communication occurs between humans and other animals in the movie, it's also very unclear how intelligent the fishes are supposed to be in comparison to them and how aware, if at all, he would be of this. Ultimately, while he's the main antagonistic force in the movie, he's also completely unaware that anything even somewhat eyebrow-raising is going on.
- Punny Name: "P. Sherman" sounds like "fisherman."
Darla
Voiced by: LuLu Ebeling Other voice actors
Dr. Sherman's niece, but known to the Tank Gang as "the fish killer."
- Anti-Villain: While she is known for being too aggressive with fish and is pretty creepy, she's not really evil. Just doesn't really know any better because of her age.
- Baby Talk: "Fishy!"
- Braces of Orthodontic Overkill: God those braces of hers are massive! They basically make her default expression a Slasher Smile for the fish.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Although she comes off as rather demanding and obnoxious, her brattiness is unintentional.
- Chronic Pet Killer: The reason why she is feared by the Tank Gang is because she kills all her adopted fish through vigorous bag-shaking.
- Creepy Child: To the Tank Gang. Subverted considering the fact that she seems quite nice, if not a bit overenthusiastic about her pets.
- Cute Is Evil: From the perspective of the fish (where the audience's sympathy is supposed to lie) Darla is a serial fish killer and therefore The Dreaded. From the perspective of the humans, she's a sweet, smiley little kid whose worst fault is being too young to know better that she's harming the fish.
- The Dreaded: To the point that her scenes are accompanied by "Psycho" Strings.
- Evil Redhead: Not particularly evil, but she does cause harm to the fish by shaking them too much.
- Genki Girl: An overexcited and hyperactive little girl.
- Girlish Pigtails: She has red hair in pigtails.
- The Heavy: Is more of a direct danger than her uncle, whose only role was putting the fish in the tank and keeping them there.
- Idiot Houdini: As far as we know, she isn't punished for killing fish by shaking their bags. If she is, we never hear about it.
- Lethally Stupid: Darla is actually a relatively normal girl (except for the braces), what makes her an antagonist is her bad habit to shake her fishes like crazy. This is justified, however, by how young and hyperactive she is.
- Obliviously Evil: Even more so than her uncle. She doesn't seem to know that her actions towards fish (particularly shaking their bags) are extremely harmful.
- "Psycho" Strings: They play every time she appears, to nail that she’s really bad news for the fish.
- Scary Teeth: Thanks to her Braces of Orthodontic Overkill, her teeth are very large and visible.
- Shout-Out: Her sweater reads "Rock 'n Roll Girl", a reference to the 1985 John Fogerty song "Rock and Roll Girls".
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Darla has green eyes, has red hair, and is considered a scourge among fishkind.
- Speech Impediment: Darla has trouble speaking with those terrible braces.
- Spoiled Brat: She gets everything she wants from her uncle.
- Youthful Freckles: That match her red hair.
The Marine Life Institute
Hank
Voiced by: Ed O'Neill Other voice actors
A grouchy octopus who's determined to bust out of the institute.
- An Arm and a Leg: He's missing one of his arms, and Dory calls him a "septopus" because of that.
- Broken Bird: The traumatic loss of his tentacle is implied to be the reason why he's such a bitter loner.
- The Cameo: He appears as a sculpture in Luca, and underwater when Arlo learns to swim in The Good Dinosaur.
- Chameleon Camouflage: Can blend in with any surrounding. Justified because octopuses can do that in real life, though it's mostly for underwater situations; octopuses are not very effective at blending in with human-made objects.
- Con Man: Hank is more than happy to trick Dory into handing over her tag in the beginning by any means possible. Once he realizes that she's Too Dumb to Fool, however, he quickly changes tactics and reluctantly begins helping her.
- The Cynic: In stark contrast to Dory's more optimistic outlook on life.
- Deadpan Snarker: When meeting Dory for the first time, he starts to tell Dory his plan, saying "It'd never work, it's too crazy." When Dory asks to hear it, saying she's okay with crazy, he remarks "You know, I could see that".
- Defrosting Ice King: Hank starts out as a cynical, grumpy loner who's only willing to help Dory for his own gain. However, her sweetness and optimism slowly begin to crack away at his icy exterior until he wants to help her for real.
- Drives Like Crazy: Twice. First with a baby cart and second with a TRUCK. Justified, however, in that he "can't see squat" either time.
- Escape Artist: We never once see where Hank is actually supposed to be within the institute since he's gotten himself out and been on the run for an indefinite amount of time. His ability to escape and camouflage himself is extremely helpful to Dory and extremely irksome to the staff at the marine hospital.
- Foil: Created to be one for Dory. While she is optimistic, friendly, and looking to find her family so she won't feel alone, Hank is cynical, grouchy, and looking to live in solitude for the rest of his life. Dory is also a textbook example of The Fool who relies on good luck and a good attitude to succeed, and generally doesn't bother with making plans; by contrast, Hank is a hypercompetent badass with a whole array of useful "superpowers", and he meticulously plans his every move. And while Dory is rather forgetful and wants to remember her parents, Hank has memories that he DOESN'T want to remember.
- Funny Octopus: Even though he mostly plays the Straight Man to Dory, he still has a handful of humorous moments, mostly related to his Master of Disguise abilities — including disguising himself as a human baby.
- Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: He's The Cynic who doesn't believe in the The Power of Friendship nor The Power of Family to The Idealist Dory, who is cheerful and friendly.
- Handicapped Badass: Despite having lost one of his tentacles, Hank is easily one of the most agile characters in the series; able to swing from objects with ease, pilot a baby stroller in a crowd of humans, and even drive a truck.
- Hates Being Touched: Hank detests physical contact and wanted to be sent to quarantine so that he can live peacefully in an isolated glass box without having to be mishandled by anyone.
- Hates Small Talk: Goes along with his ultimate desire to be left alone. Hank actually launches into a small rant about how much he doesn't like "talking and chatter" when Dory initially tries to make conversation with him.
- Hollywood Chameleon: Just like real octopuses, he has the ability to change his body color to blend in with his environment.
- Ineffectual Loner: Hank doesn't want friends or family and aspires to live completely alone in a glass tank for the rest of his days. Thankfully, he comes out of this mindset after spending time with Dory.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Extremely prickly and ill-tempered, and only agreed to help Dory to get her tag. Despite this, he eventually grows attached to her and becomes one of her best friends.
- Luminescent Blush: It's very brief, but Hank blushes deeply when Dory tells him, "I think I'll remember you."
- Loner-Turned-Friend: Though Hank spends most of the movie rebuffing Dory's attempts to befriend him, she eventually gets under his skin and he actually gives up his goal of going to Cleveland to return to the ocean with her.
- Master of Disguise: Due to his flexible body and color-changing abilities, he disguises himself as a number of things over the course of the movie, from a potted plant to a human baby.
- No Mouth: As an octopus's beak is on the other side of its body from its eyes, Hank talks for the most part without any visible mouth movement. However, the animators compromised and gave him a mouth between his front two tentacles which can be seen when he shouts or is otherwise riled.
- Noodle Incident: Exactly what caused Hank to lose a tentacle and develop his fear of the ocean and physical contact is never explained...in Finding Dory, at least.
- Opposites Attract: In a platonic sense. The creators say that Hank was created to be Dory's exact opposite and the two of them become good friends.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: While not a literal veteran, Hank lost one of his tentacles in an unmentioned "accident" that may or may not have to do with his fear of the ocean but which has everything to do with his PTSD-like fear of being touched. It is also implied to be the reason he's so cynical and adamant about not getting close to anyone— physically or emotionally.
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Over the course of the movie, Hank reveals in bits and pieces that his past (whatever it is) weighs heavily on him and he wishes he could forget about it: "No memories, no problems."
- Stealthy Cephalopod: Hank the "septopus" (an octopus with one tentacle missing; it's unclear if this is a birth defect or his tentacle simply hasn't grown back yet) is good at sneaking around, thanks to his quiet nature and ability to change his skin color.
- Straight Man: To Dory.
- Super Not-Drowning Skills: Inverted. He can survive outside of water for an improbably long time compared to real-life octopuses.
- Trauma Button: Part of his PTSD-like symptoms, Hank is extremely paranoid about being touched by anyone, and the idea of it alone is enough to make him a terrified wreck.
- Voluntary Shapeshifter: Like all octopuses, he can make himself look like something else by changing the color and texture of his skin, although since they're going for realism here, his abilities are somewhat limited.
Destiny
Voiced by: Kaitlin Olson Other voice actors
A nearsighted whale shark and Dory's pipe pal.
- Birds of a Feather: It's no wonder she got along so well with Dory.
- Blind Without 'Em: She has very poor eyesight and is constantly running into walls because of them. She mostly relies on Bailey's echolocation (dubbed in-universe as "The World's Most Powerful Spectacles") to "see".
- Childhood Friends: She and Dory used to communicate to each other using the tank pipes when they were younger.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: An adorably sweet and helpful whale shark who frequently crashes into objects because of her poor vision. Even in-universe she's seen as cute enough that the MLI is selling stuffed animal versions of her.
- Cute Giant: A huge and downright adorable whale shark.
- Genki Girl: Cheerful and enthusiastic, she gets very excited to reunite with her old friend, and will stop at nothing to help Dory.
- Gentle Giant: Huge compared to the rest of the cast, but super nice. Truth in Television, since the whale shark is the largest living fish species, yet feeds on plankton and is docile even toward humans.
- Like an Old Married Couple: Frequently bickers about the most minute of things with Bailey, but they would develop a close bond as Bailey becomes her "eyesight".
Bailey
Voiced by: Ty Burrell Other voice actors
A beluga whale who lives in the tank next to Destiny. He has an unknown injury that causes his echolocation to not function properly.
- Disabled Snarker: Is rather sardonic due to his inability to echo locate.
- How Do I Shot Web?: He can't remember how his echolocation works.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Is often pretty ill-tempered, but nevertheless sternly tells Hank to lay off when he gets angry at Dory and arguably goes to the greatest lengths to help save Marlin and Nemo at the end of the film.
- Like an Old Married Couple: He frequently pick fights with Destiny, but they share a close enough bond for him to agree to her requests, and he later promises her to be her "eyesight" when they return to the ocean.
- Pstandard Psychic Pstance: Invoked. Bailey's not trying to use ESP, but he still takes the pose.
- Super-Senses: While his echolocation is not functioning perfectly, it still allows him to "see" through solid objects and locate stuff from far distances.
Fluke and Rudder
Rudder (left) and Fluke (right)
Two sea lions that hang around the shore close to the Institute.
- Animal Gender-Bender: Rudder has the slender and lean body of a female sea lion. Fluke looks more accurate to how a male sea lion looks.
- Fat and Skinny: Fluke is rather burly, whereas Rudder is slender.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: As Marlin points out, sea lions live principally on fish. However, Rudder and Fluke are perfectly willing to help the protagonists.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: With Gerald, constantly trying to keep him off their rock.
- Sluggish Seal: Fluke and Rudder are two sea lions who spend all their time sitting on a rock. Fluke and Rudder are acknowledged to be fish-eating predators, but they are too lazy to attack Marlin and Nemo. Fluke and Rudder only move when they want to get fellow sea-lion Gerald off their rock.
- Sweet Seal: Both are pretty amicable even to their natural prey. That said, they are territorial.
- Those Two Guys: They appear together all the time.
- Truth in Television: Sea lions are highly gregarious animals.
Becky
Voiced by: Torbin Xan Bullock
A common loon that is friends with Fluke and Rudder and tries to help Marlin and Nemo find Dory
- Artistic License – Ornithology: She's treated more like a semi-aquatic pigeon than an actual loon, walking around on two legs, eating popcorn and making pigeon noises. Real life loons move rather ungainly on land and are piscivores (which would make them another threat to Marlin and Nemo).
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Despite trying to help Marlin and Nemo find Dory, she gets distracted by popcorn that has fallen to the ground.
- Non-Standard Character Design: She is less anthropomorphized than most animals in the film, with realistic bird eyes. She also looks different from the other loons in the movie, with scruffier feathers.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Averted. She has eyes that are realistic (if a bit too large) for her species, but is quite friendly.
- Trademark Favorite Food: She loves popcorn.
Gerald
Voiced by: Torbin Xan Bullock
A sea lion that is always trying to get on the rock that Fluke and Rudder are on.
- Big Ol' Unibrow: Just look at it.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Seems to be not quite there.
- Comically Cross-Eyed: He has unfocused, outward-looking eyes.
- Fish Eyes: Ironic, considering he's one of the few characters that's not a fish.
- Nonstandard Character Design: Compared to the rest of the characters, Gerald looks like he escaped from a much more cartoony film.
- One-Steve Limit: He shares the name with a pelican that attempts to eat Marlin and Dory in Finding Nemo. They are both ugly and unpopular members of their species (the other pelicans refuse to help Gerald the pelican when he's choking on the protagonists).
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Again, his eyes are unfocused and looking into a distance.
Jenny and Charlie
Dory's long-lost parents.
- Audience Surrogate: They represent the many parents who live through the struggle of having a child with special needs. Many parents would be able to relate, especially the scene with Jenny crying in worry over whether Dory can survive on her own.
- Determinator: They never gave up hope that their daughter would one day return. When she disappeared, they escaped the institute, set up a home near the exit pipe, and spent every day since setting up seashell trails in every direction in the hope that Dory would stumble upon one of them and follow them back home.
- Good Parents: They're incredibly patient with Dory and her short-term memory loss, and did everything they could to keep her from getting lost.
- Parental Abandonment: Though not by choice. Dory got swept away by the undertow and was lost for years, with her parents trying hard to find her.
- Parents as People: As much as they love Dory, they genuinely wondered if she could make it on her own.
- Stepford Smiler: While Jenny acts cheerful around Dory, a flashback shows her crying out of worry for Dory's future as a fish with short-term memory loss.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Their stripe patterns resemble a hairstyle, with long hair for Jenny and a receding hairline for Charlie.
Sigourney Weaver
Voiced by: Sigourney Weaver
The narrator for the Marine Life Insititute's various exhibits.
- As Himself: Weaver voices herself having been presumably contracted by the MLI to provide voiceover for their exhibits.
- Canned Orders over Loudspeaker: All her dialogue is pre-recorded educational facts that play over the exhibits.
- Companion Cube: As the all the animals in the MLI don't understand that she's not actively speaking to them, they treat her as if she's a friend who gives them helpful information.
- The Voice: As she's only a voice, her face is never seen.
