Characters / Griswold the Goblin

General

• No Name Given: Virtually none of these characters are given names outside of Griswold, Gavin, Oscar, Helga, the other two witches she mentions, Mushugoogoo, John Boogie, and the two known Goblionis (one of whom is just called Don and never given a first name).
• Speaking Simlish: In the first game, with the exception of Mushugoogoo. Averted in the second game, where they're all fully voiced.

The titular character

Griswold

"Who took my rock?"

A goblin with an eye out for jewels and other valuables, who finds a ruby on a walk when he trips one day. He must get it back from Mushugoogoo, helping NPCs and winning minigames along the way. He later seeks the don's reward in Goblin City, as he has nothing else to do since his TV is broken.

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• Gasshole: He has a habit of farting from time to time when you aren't controlling him. He seems to have become aware of this by the second game, having picked up some gas pills in between the games.
• Greed: He has quite a vast love for jewels, which leads him to get his ruby back and take all of Mushugoogoo's gems back with him. He's also turned on by the sight of a jewel on his TV screen before it breaks seconds later in the sequel.
• The Hero: Of both games. Though his main motives are to get back his gem and find Goblin City's entrance respectively, he still changes the world around him and gives people what they're looking for, building a reputation as a hero in the process. The first game even has everyone he helped throwing a celebration for him when he returns from his escape from Mushugoogoo's Collapsing Lair.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He may love gems a little too much, but he's still willing to help people along the way in his journeys, some examples being when he assures the little girl her teddy bear will be found and when he frees Oscar from his cage.
• Our Goblins Are Different: Griswold's your regular run-of-the-mill green-skinned goblin with pointy ears, a big nose, and an eye for valuables. He's out to get his ruby back in the first game and get to Goblin City in Islands of Fire, but he ends up helping many people along the way and running into new adventures and minigames. He also has a habit of occasionally farting and scratching his butt.
• Strong as They Need to Be: The first game portrayed him as strong enough to hold an axe and best a Mighty Lumberjack at a tree-chopping race. However, in the second, he needs a drink of Lumberjack Juice to get the axe out of the tree at a dead end of the labyrinth (though it could also have something to do with the fact that the tree is made of sticky gum).

Appearing in both games

Gavin

"Well helloooo there young lad!! Would you be interested in buying some of my high quality goods?"

A shifty goblin who's looking for his beloved runaway chicken. He's taken over Oscar's shop and is trying to sell him as well as his entire inventory.

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• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: His hair was black and his mustache less detailed than in the second game (where it's orange). His hair is also a lighter brown in Islands of Fire.
• Eaten Alive: While he's still chasing his chicken in Islands of Fire, the Man-Eating Plant scarfs him down.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He has quite the soft spot for his chicken, whom he calls "baby," chasing it around.
  Gavin: BABY COME BACK! ME LOVES JOO!!
• Jerkass: The game describes him as "quite the shifty character." If kidnapping a shopkeeper and trying to sell his entire stock (including said shopkeeper) is any indication, we don't know what is.
• Our Goblins Are Different: Like Griswold, he also has green skin, a big nose, pointy ears, and a thirst for valuables, only he's taller and much meaner (as Jerkass above will tell you), and constantly seeking his chicken.

Gavin's chicken

Have you seen this chicken?

Gavin's elusive chicken. Griswold must use it as a distraction to free Oscar.

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• Trademark Favorite Food: Corn chips. Griswold must sprinkle some on the ground to entice it and give it to Gavin while this is happening.

The lumberjacks

""Are you kidding? This place is a gold mine, I ain't leaving for nothin' or nobody!""

Two lumberjacks (who may or may not be the same) whom Griswold encounters on his journeys. The first aims to chop down the angry tree just like he did his friend, to which the goblin must get rid of him by beating him in a tree-cutting race. The second one got lost in the labyrinth, having taken a wrong turn, and he's much friendlier to Griswold, whom he requests to decipher the map he also found in order to find the right way out.

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• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Assuming they're the same, the lumberjack has a more detailed mustache, and his pants are blue instead of tan.
• Mighty Lumberjack: Both of them. The first one is able to stay ahead of Griswold in his challenge (because of which the latter must take advantage of the former's sweat-wiping in between rounds), while the second one tries to cut down a gum tree he found in the labyrinth (although his axe got stuck in the process).
• Took a Level in Kindness: The second lumberjack is much kinder to Griswold than the first one (although it could be due to desperation to escape the maze), even retiring from the logging business when he finds the way out.

The weeping widow

Appearing in Griswold the Goblin

Oscar

"Look, kid, you've gotta get me out of here! This crazy goblin has taken my whole shop and is trying to sell it all...including me!!"

^{Click here to see his shaved appearance} 

The owner of Oscar's Oddities. Gavin has him captive when Griswold first meets him.

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• Friendly Shopkeeper: He gives Griswold the scuba gear for free to thank the goblin for freeing him from Gavin's clutches.

The banana salesman

"Hey! Get away from that you little punk...go on, scram!"

A man selling bananas on the street for $20. Griswold has to steal one to get rid of the monkey on the bridge.

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• Berserk Button: Do NOT steal one of his bananas, or he'll yell at you to get the Hell away from his stand.
• Sleepyhead: He's constantly trying to keep himself from falling asleep, which Griswold must take advantage of to get one of the bananas. The game even calls him narcoleptic.
• Token Minority: The only Black human you encounter in the first game.

Haggard Helga

"Hello this is Haggard Helga with my 13th book on the mastery of witchcraft. If you have been paying attention in my last books then you would already know that it is a must to have salt water in any spell, if not, the spell will simply not work due to the fact that the added ingredient of salt water makes the molecules inside the potion react more efficiently with BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH. Also keep in mind that all spells must be used in the order written!! Now go and have some fun!!"

—Helga in her introduction

The witch who wrote the spellbook Griswold finds in the dumpster.

• Blah, Blah, Blah: What she says when describing the effects of salt water on spells. Justified as she wrote it in previous books.
• The Ghost: She's only mentioned in her spellbook, never making a physical appearance.
• Magic Potion: Her specialty. She's pretty knowledgeable about the history of certain ones.

Wicked Wanda

"Back in the 12th century this spell was discovered by Wicked Wanda when she decided after 214 facelifts that the only way she could look any better was to not be seen at all. She was in fact never seen again and the world was a better place for it!!!"

—Haggard Helga describing the history behind the Invisibility potion

A witch who discovered the Invisibility potion, whom Helga discusses in her spellbook.

• The Ghost: Is only mentioned in the spellbook, having been alive in the twelfth century, meaning it's almost certain she's dead by the events of the first game.
• I Just Want to Be Beautiful: And how! She had 214 facelifts that failed to make her any less ugly, after which she gave up and made the invisibility potion.
• Invisibility: Oh yes! She discovered the potion and drank it to make herself invisible, never thinking of reversing its effects.
• Wicked Witch: Implied. Aside from the word "wicked" being in Wanda's name, Helga describes the world as being a better place because of her invisibility.

Ancient Anne

"This spell was first created several million years ago by Ancient Anne. Some believe that the use of this spell led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. But we all know that the dinosaurs died because of the ice age, I mean c'mon, who doesn't know that?"

—Haggard Helga describing the history behind the Meteor potion

Another witch described by Helga, who discovered the Meteor potion.

• Been There, Shaped History: Possibly. Helga describes her use of the Meteor potion as having possibly killed the dinosaurs, before dismissing this in favor of the ice age theory.
• The Ghost: She was alive several million years before Griswold found the spellbook, putting her squarely in this territory.
• Meteor-Summoning Attack: She definitely had that power when she discovered the Meteor potion! She may have killed the dinosaurs with it.

The crying girl

"No, mister, I haven't, have you seen my little teddy bear? I lost him in that forest yesterday and I can't find him!"

A little girl who is crying over the loss of her teddy bear. Griswold must get it out of the angry tree for her.

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• And Your Reward Is Edible: After you give her back her beloved teddy bear, she gives you all she can offer: a bag of corn chips, which you can then use to distract Gavin's chicken.
• Companion Cube: Her teddy bear, whom she has been looking for for hours.
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals: She's really close to her stuffed bear, carrying it around again once Griswold exchanges it for her corn chips.

The angry tree

"NO!! I've got enough of my own problems without the addition of your petty little issues! GO AWAY!!"

A tree holding the girl's teddy bear, who is furious over the lumberjack threatening to cut him down like he did the former's best friend. Griswold must get rid of this lumberjack to get the teddy bear.

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• Jerkass: Possibly being the meanest tree in the forest, he is so focused on his own problems to listen to anyone else, resulting in him yelling at them to get away.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed on the "heart of gold" part. After Griswold gets rid of the lumberjack, the tree furiously yells to be left alone, but when the former points out his victory, the latter shakes himself to relinquish the teddy bear. He even attends the celebration of Griswold's victory at the end of the game.
• The Trees Have Faces: He has a scary-looking face in his trunk.

The fisherman

The crazy cat lady

Mushugoogoo

The monkey

The runaway cat

John Boogie

The dragon

Appearing in Islands of Fire

Gabriela Goblioni

Don Goblioni

The spider

The carnivorous plant

The widow's husband

The owl

The beast

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