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Story
Played by: Bryce Dallas Howard
A narf, a kind of water nymph being, hiding from the vicious Scrunt in a building's private pool and is waiting for the right moment to return home. She meets Cleveland, and the other neighbors willing to help her, and comes to be a great influence for their future lives.
- Fish out of Water: Story has been living in a swimming pool for some time and the only thing she did outside was taking objects left forgotten by people in the pool. Then she saves Cleveland from drowning one night and gets in contact with the human world, but she is so sincere and innocent that she doesn't know that reading secret diaries is for privacy and nudity is quite embarrassing for a normal human being.
- Godiva Hair: Story has very long curly hair that would cover her breasts, but for most of the film she wears a shirt to cover herself.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Story is redheaded but by the end of the film, after being healed from the Scrunt's near-fatal attack, her hair changes to blonde.
- Innocent Fanservice Girl: Before the events of the movie, Story had always been naked, and as such, she doesn't know very much about humans and their customs, like nudity being taboo in public (as shown when she greets Cleveland while she takes a shower...by stepping out of it completely naked).
- Mysterious Waif: Story suddenly appears in the lives of Cleveland and that of most of the building's neighborhood. And they are supposed to represent an unique role to get Story back to her home.
- Naked on Arrival: It's a brief, blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, but Story is naked the first time she's seen onscreen, jumping out of the pool to grab a set of keys.
- Power Dyes Your Hair: Cleveland healing her turns her ginger hair blonde.
- Shrinking Violet: She's quite timid and shy.
- Water Is Womanly: A shy, demure water nymph.
Cleveland Heep
Played by: Paul Giamatti
The janitor of the building. He comes in contact with Story after he almost drowned in the pool at night. Then she needs his help to get home from the cruel stalking wolf Scrunt.
- Almighty Janitor: Cleveland was a doctor before the tragic death of his family, then he moved to the building as a janitor to leave the tragedy behind.
- Mysterious Past: When he arrived to the building no one knew about his past self. He was actually a doctor whose family got murdered. Only the anti-social Mr. Leeds knew who he was.
Mr. Farber
Played by: Bob Balaban
A cold and unsympathetic film critic who comes to rent an apartment.
- Cassandra Truth: His analysis of Archetypal Character traits proves to be exactly correct. The other characters insist he got it wrong because they misapplied it, but he never assigned roles to specific people himself.
- Death by Genre Savviness: His last words consist on him saying that he will probably survive the Scrunt's attack as he is fully aware that he is in a PG film and he is quite unsympathetic. Then the Scrunt grabs him as he turns away."Hello? Is the bathroom on this level working? A dog inside the building! Go! Shoo! Why you're not a dog at all. My god, this is like a moment from a horror movie. This is precisely the moment where the mutation or beast will attempt to kill an unlikable side character. But, in stories where there has been no prior cursing, violence, nudity or death, such as in a family film, the unlikable character will escape his encounter, and be referenced later in the story, having learned valuable lessons. He may even be given a humorous moment to allow the audience to feel good about him. This is where I turn to run. You will leap for me, I will shut the door, and you will land a fraction of a second too late."
- Discussed Trope: Twice. First the Romantic Rain with Cleveland after he saw a romantic film in which the main characters yell at each other in the middle of a rain. And then the Tempting Fate when he meets the Scrunt alone.
- Straw Critic: Never seems to like anything and criticizes everything he has seen. As it is infamously known, he is a Take That! from Shyamalan to critics that don't like his films.
Young-Soon
- Asian Airhead: She's Korean and rather ditzy.
- Ms. Fanservice: Our first shot of her is in a bikini top, and she frequently wears skimpy clothes.
Vick Ran
Played by: M. Night Shyamalan
A writer who lives with his sister. Story has something important to say to him.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Anna is this to him at times.
- Author Avatar: One of the most infamous and controversial examples ever. He is played by the director of the film.
- Messianic Archetype: Vick is the real reason for Story making her visit. His book about his thoughts and views will not only change the world, he'll be killed over it and become a martyr. And presumably remembered even more lovingly by history as a result.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Anna's Red.
Mr. Leeds
Played by: Bill Irwin
A lonely and anti-social man that watches television all the time.
- The Quiet One: He never talks to anyone and watches television every day. Then he suddenly speaks to Cleveland when he is promoting a party in the building.
The Scrunt
A large and vicious wolflike creature and natural enemy to the Narfs that wants to hunt Story.
- The Big Bad Wolf: He is large and ferocious, is based on a bedtime story told by Shyamalan to his daughters and also happens to be the Big Bad.
- Chameleon Camouflage: The Scrunt is able to hide in the grass due to his green fur. And that's what makes him dangerous to Story if she tries to escape.
The Tartutic
Played by: Doug Jones, Brian Steele, Jeremy Howard and Kurt Carley
Apelike creatures. They are the only ones who can defeat a Scrunt but they are still very cruel creatures.
- Always a Bigger Fish: The Scrunt is highly dangerous and vicious. Then, when it breaks the rules of the ritual, the Tartutic arrive, grab it, beat it with ease and drag it away.
- Maniac Monkeys: They're extremely cruel and violent ape-like creatures.
The Great Eatlon
A giant eagle and Story's hope to get back home. The neighbors must organize their roles in order to summon it for Story to return home safe and sound.
- Giant Flyer: It's an immense eagle like being with a large wingspan, capable of easily carrying a human-sized creature on its back.
- The Unreveal: The Eatlon is shown, but not in its entirety. When it lands, the scene is blurry as it is seen from the pool's water and during nighttime.
