Characters featured in Strange World.
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The Clades
Searcher Clade
Voiced by: Jake Gyllenhaal
Other Languages: Bruno Choël (European French), Jakob Stadell (Swedish), Marco Bocci (Italy)
The son of Jaeger, husband of Meridian, and father of Ethan.- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Acts as your typical embarrassing dad when Ethan's friends (and crush) roll up to the Clade farm, complete with misappropriating teen slang and commenting on Ethan's crush to his crush.
- Black-and-White Morality: He seems to believe this is always the case, as when he, Jaeger and Ethan play Ethan's favorite board game, he is confused over there being no villains in it, wondering how a story can work without them.
- Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: He was designed to resemble John Krasinski.
- Comical Coffee Cup: At the end of the movie he's seen drinking from a mug with the words Pretty Good Dad on it. Doubles as a Brick Joke.
- Good Parents: He's not a perfect dad, but he's (in Ethan's own words) a "pretty good dad".
- Happily Married: Is in a loving, affectionate marriage with his wife, Meridian.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Other than his bulbous nose, he strongly resembles his voice actor, complete with the stubble.
- Jock Dad, Nerd Son: At the beginning of the film, Searcher is shown to have an interest in botany rather than exploration, and later uses his knowledge to help Avalonia turn into a more advanced society. And in comparison, Jaeger is a manly adventurer with years of experience and adventures under his belt who turned the Clade clan into the exploration giants they were and was determined to discover what's beyond the mountains of Avalonia.
- Missing Mom: Subverted when he and Jaeger catch up with each other. Searcher mentions that his mother is "gone", and Jaeger quickly assumes that she's dead. However, Searcher clarifies that his mother left Jaeger for another man named Sheldon because she believed that the former died in the expedition, and she still lives with the latter in town.
- Papa Wolf: Searcher having explorer skills or not, strange world or not, no thing and no creature in it is gonna threaten Ethan.
- Parents as People: He's clearly a loving and supportive father (Ethan even calls him a "pretty good dad"), but Searcher's unresolved issues with his own father Jaeger have colored the way he parents his son, which had some areas for improvement.
- Turn Out Like His Father: Searcher tries way hard to be the opposite of his dad by caring about his son and making sure he does not end up like Jaeger. But he realises by not considering what Ethan wants to be, Searcher is no different to how Jaeger treated him.
Jaeger Clade
Voiced by: Dennis Quaid
Other Languages: Mattias Knave (Swedish), Francesco Pannofino (Italy)
Searcher's estranged father.- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Has thick, gray eyebrows.
- Character Catchphrase: "The one and only!"
- Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: His appearance was modeled on Kurt Russell.
- Determinator: As the number one explorer in the land of Avalonia, Jaeger was willing to do everything to explore what was beyond the mountains surronding the land. This included going solo when Searcher and the other explorers deduced that it was not worth it and wanted to head back. Even after falling into the new world beneath Avalonia, Jaeger survived all out of his sheer determination to explore and accomplish his goal.
- Fire-Breathing Weapon: His weapon when he was stuck in the strange world was a flamethrower.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: He's been isolated from civilization for over 25 years, surviving in a hostile world trying to kill him. As a result, he initially believes that Searcher is a talking rock and the airship is just another delusion he has.
- Jerkass Realization: When he gets a glimpse inside Searcher's compass and sees that his son has taken him out of the family picture in the climax, Jaeger finally realizes how he has treated Searcher.
- Meaningful Name: The name Jaeger seems to derive from German language word Jäger, meaning 'hunter'. This probably explains his more... unorthodox approach to parenting his son Searcher.
- Open-Minded Parent: Or Open Minded Grandfather. Once Ethan mentions being interested in a guy, he starts immediately giving him love advice and doesn't even flinch about Ethan's crush being a guy.
- Parents as People: He and Searcher started repairing their relationship when Searcher explained why he became a farmer (which was to leave a lasting legacy for Ethan), to which Jaeger comments that he could relate.
Ethan Clade
Voiced by: Jaboukie Young-White
Other Languages: Tousin "Tusse" Chiza (Swedish), Lorenzo Cresci (Italy)
The son of Searcher and Meridian.- Crush Blush: Ethan does this a bit when talking to his crush, Diazo.
- Farm Boy: Literally him at the beginning. He doesn't want to remain a farm boy, however. And this leads to conflict with his father.
- Friend to All Living Things: He has a knack for befriending the strange lifeforms below Avalonia, particularly to a blob-like creature he nicknames Splat. In fact, unlike his father and grandfather, Ethan prefers to work in harmony with the environment and lifeforms, exemplified by his love for the board game Primal Outpost, which heavily emphasizes environmental harmony. This plays a huge part leading towards The Reveal.
- Kid Has a Point: He makes some rather rational assessments throughout the picture, one of the stand-outs being that his grandfather‘s romance advice is pretty toxic.
- Little Stowaway: When Ethan was not allowed to join the expedition, he sneaks onto the ship with Legend.
- Straight Gay: Ethan is openly gay but doesn't exhibit any overt gay stereotypes.
- Take a Third Option: He loved exploring like his grandfather, and while he doesn't want to be just a farmer like his father he appreciates it enough to want to settle into studying new environments and species.
- The World Is Just Awesome: Throughout the adventure, Ethan is highly engaged in the newly found world and all of its creatures.
Meridian Clade
Voiced by: Gabrielle Union
Other Languages: Dinah Yonas Manna (Swedish), Lucy Campeti (Italian)
The wife of Searcher and mother of Ethan.- Ace Pilot: While she is experienced in crop-dusting the farm, Meridian is able to fly an entire airship.
- Big Beautiful Woman: She may be curvy and plump, but she's also beautiful and pretty.
- Good Parents: Is very supportive of Ethan and even encourages him to embrace his nature-loving side during their adventure.
- Disapproving Look: Gives one to Splat to make it stop pressing buttons.
- Hartman Hips: Has very prominent round hips.
- Mama Bear: Similarly to her husband Searcher. In her own words, she'd fly through fire if it meant saving her family.
Legend
The Clade Family's pet dog.
- An Arm and a Leg: Legend is missing his front left limb. He has no problem moving around though.
- Big Friendly Dog: Big and lovable and loves adventures with his family.
- Canine Companion: To the Clades.
- Dogs Are Dumb: Legend is not the sharpest tool in the shed. For instance, after he picks up some pando that shocks him, he picks up some more and still gets shocked.
- Team Pet: Is the family pet of the Clades and doesn't do much in the plot beyond being, well, a pet.
Splat
A living blob creature whom Ethan befriends in the Strange World.
- The Blank: Splat has no face to speak off, but still manages to be very expressive with its arms and body language.
- Blue Is Heroic: Splat is a blue blob that assists the human cast in their journey to save their home and helps them out through quite a few scenarios.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: It decides to help the Clades after Ethan treats a burn on one of its tentacles.
- Heel–Face Turn: It initially lures Ethan to be eaten by the Reapers but after seeing Ethan's kindness, it immediately protects Ethan from the Reapers and even helps guide the Clades to the heart of Pando.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Despite being an oversized cell with no face, Splat is adorable enough for the crew to want plushies made in its image.
Allies
Callisto Mal
Voiced by: Lucy Liu
Other Languages: Ayla Kabaca (Swedish), Valentina Stredini (Italian)
The Leader of the expedition, and Jaeger's teammate.- Ambiguously Gay: She appears to have these moments with Meridian, such as while the latter is repairing the Venture.
- Amazonian Beauty: She is tall, muscular, and beautiful.
- Dual Wielding: Uses two machete knifes to fight off some of the creatures in the strange world.
- Hero Antagonist: Becomes this when she assumes command of the ship in an attempt to continue the Venture's mission despite Searcher and Ethan's revelation concerning Pando's nature before being shown the light very quickly by the protagonists.
- Obliviously Evil: She grabs the antagonist ball for 5 minutes and does questionable things like locking the Clades up to get them out of her way, but never harms them and has every reason to believe that she is in the right.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: After the opening, it was mentioned that she became the leader of Avalonia. During the expedition she defuses an argument between Searcher and Jaeger by offering a compromise between their respective desires. Her supposed Face–Heel Turn only extends to continuing her mission that she believed would be best for Avalonia's survival; once shown evidence to the contrary she immediately changed her mind. Even in the opening, she supported Searcher's discovery of the Pando plant.
- Statuesque Stunner: Stands tall over every other character except for Jaeger.
Captain Pulk
Voiced by: Adelina Anthony
Other Languages: Angelika Prick (Swedish)
The second-in-command of the expedition to Strange World.- All There in the Manual: The artbook confirms that Pulk is non-binary.
- Number Two: They are the second-in-command to Callisto Mal, the leader of the expedition.
Caspian
Voiced by: Karan Soni
Other Languages: Adam Portnoff (Swedish)
A nerdy member of the expedition to Strange World.- Failed Attempt at Drama: Tries to break through a door by ramming into it. It doesn’t open and he ends up hurting himself.
- Freaky Is Cool: He actually finds Splat pretty cute despite its odd appearance.
- Innocently Insensitive: Tells Searcher that he is a huge fan… of his father. He doesn’t seem to realize he unintentionally dismissed Searcher of his own accomplishments to Avalonia.
- Plucky Comic Relief: He provides a lot of comic relief for this movie with his quirky personality.
Lieutenant Duffle
Voiced by: Alan Tudyk
Other Languages: Fredrik Hiller (Swedish)
A pilot for the expedition to Strange World.- Actor Allusion: Once again, Alan Tudyk plays a pilot who is suddenly killed through a windshield after crashing.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: He is never mentioned again after he is eaten by one of the Reapers.
- Goggles Do Nothing: Never gets a chance to use his goggles.
- Sacrificial Lamb: While his death is never acknowledged by the crew, his death still cements how risky the adventure into the Strange World will be, especially when facing the bizarre creatures.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He gets eaten by one of the wyvern-like birds pretty early into the expedition, when the team is traveling down the mine after heading off.
Others
The Reapers
- Expy: Their physical features and visual appearances are highly evocative of H. P. Lovecraft’s shoggoths.
- Good Is Not Nice: They are antibodies that work together to tear apart any foreign threats to Avalonia’s immune system. However, they are vicious and relentless in their pursuit to rid the body of anything that doesn’t belong.
- Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: They are this, as they are simply a part of Avalonia's immune system who mistook the expedition for a threat.
- Tentacled Terror: They have “mouths” that open up to reveal several large grabby tentacles.
- Zerg Rush: Aside from the one Searcher and Legend run into, all the Reapers work together in large groups.
The Flyers
- Giant Flyer: They are bigger than humans and capable of flight.
- No Name Given: Despite their main role in the story, these creatures have no official name so far.
- Red Is Violent: They are extremely aggressive red creatures.
Diazo
Voiced by: Jonathan Melo
- Satellite Love Interest: He only shows up twice and we don't learn much about him other than he seems to like Ethan's card game.
- Ship Tease: When Ethan blushes and struggles to talk to him.
Kardez
Voiced by: Nik Dodani
One of Ethan's friends.- Big Fun: He’s the biggest person in Ethan’s friend group and is easily the most excitable.
- Social Circle Filler: He is a friend to Ethan, but has little to no importance.
Azimuth
Voiced by: Francesca Reale
One of Ethan's friends.- Redhead In Green: She has red hair and wears a green beanie and jacket. She has even dyed green streaks on both sides of her head.
- The Smurfette Principle: She is the only girl who is a part of Ethan's friends.
- Social Circle Filler: She is a friend to Ethan, but has little to no importance.
- Token White: The only white person in Ethan’s friend group.
