Characters / The Great Dictator

The people of the ghetto

The Barber

Played by: Charlie Chaplin

A Jewish barber in the ghetto, the main protagonist. The Barber was a soldier during World War I and loses his memory for about 20 years. After having rescued Schultz during the war, he meets his friend again under radically changed circumstances.

• Identical Stranger: Look almost exactly (and inexplicaply) like Hynkel.
• No Name Given: His name is never revealed.
• Oppressed Minority Veteran
• As the Good Book Says...
• Dressing as the Enemy: In the final minutes, the Barber and Schultz don stormtrooper uniforms after escaping the concertration camp.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Downplayed. But The Barber initially manages to avoid getting in trouble with the soldiers, due to being friends with Commander Schultz.

Hannah

Played by: Paulette Goddard

The Barber's neighbour. She lives in the ghetto next to his shop, and supports the Barber against the Tomainian Storm troopers.

• Frying Pan of Doom: When the stormtroopers are attacking the Barber in the street, she ambushes them with a frying pan.
• Run for the Border: Escapes to Mr. Jaeckel's brother's wineyard in Osterlich with Mr. and Mrs. Jaeckel.

Mr. Jaeckel

Played by: Maurice Muscovich

An elderly Jew who takes Hannah in after her father dies in the war and her mother dies some time later. He is the renter of the barber salon.

• Face Death with Dignity: After finding a coin in his budding during the Suicide Attack lottery, Mr. Jaeckel solemly declares to have found the coin - unlike all the other men at the table who, thanks to Hannah, also found coins in their buddings and were franctically trying to hide them or slip them to each other. However the plan falls through and nobody carries out the attack.
  • Earlier when the stormtroopes come to the ghetto and residents flee to his house, Mr. Jaeckel sends the women and children inside and goes to the yard with the men, encouraging them to make a Last Stand.
• Run for the Border: Escapes to his brother's wineyard in Osterlich with his wife and Hannah.

Mrs. Jaeckel

Played by: Emma Dunn

Mr. Jaeckel's wife.

• Satellite Character
• Run for the Border: Escapes to Mr. Jaeckel's brother's wineyard in Osterlich with her husband and Hannah.

Mr. Mann

A ghetto resident who visits the Jaeckels.

Played by: Bernard Gorcey

• What Happened to the Mouse?: Where did he go? Is he alive?

Mr. Agar

Played by: Paul Weigel

• Satellite Character
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Where did he go? Is he alive?

Barber's customer

A man who visits the barbershop.

Played by: Chester Conklin

• Satellite Character: Only appears briefly.

The people of the palace

Adenoid Hynkel

Played by: Charlie Chaplin

He's the Phooey of Tomainia, and attacks the Jews with his storm troopers. He has Schultz arrested and has his storm troopers hunt down the Jewish Barber.

• Black Speech: Tomainian. It's so bad he gets coughing fits trying to speak it.
• Dark Is Evil: Occassionally wears a black cape.
• The Caligula: One of the most objectively crazy things he does is telling Garbitsch to wipe out the brunettes, since he and Garbitsch are both brunettes.
• Got the Whole World in My Hand: His ambition to rule over the world is exemplified by him playing with a globe like a beach ball.
• A God I Am Not: Hynkel is frightened at the prospect of being referred to as a god, despite his global aspirations.
• Villain in a White Suit: His dress uniform is largely white.

Garbitsch

Played by: Henry Daniell

Hynkel's loyal Secretary of the Interior and Minister of Propaganda.

• The Comically Serious: Takes Hynkel's antics rather casually.
• Dark Is Evil: Wears a black cape in the final scene, and his uniform is darker in general.
• Hypocritical Humor: Both Garbitsch and his phooey are dark-haired. This doesn't stop Garbitsch from telling Hynkel that brunettes are untrustworthy.
  Hynkel: Strange, these strike leaders, they're all brunettes. Not a blonde amongst them!"
  Garbitsch: Brunettes are troublemakers, they're worse than the jews!
  Hynkel: Then wipe them out.
  Garbitsch: It's too small, not so fast. We get rid of the jews first, then concertrate on the brunettes.
  Hynkel: We'll never have peace until we have a pure aryan race. How wonderful. Tomainia, a nation of blue-eyed blondes.
  Garbitsch: Why not a blonde Europe, a blonde Asia, a blonde America?
  Hynkel: A blonde world!
  Garbitsch: And a brunette dictator.
  Hynkel: A dictator of the world..!
  Garbitsch: Why not? Aut Caesar aut nullus. The world's effete, worn out, afraid. No nation would dare oppose you.
  Hynkel: Dictator of the world.
  Garbitsch: It's your destiny. We'll kill off the Jews, wipe out the brunettes, then will come forth our dream of pure Aryan race.
  Hynkel: Beautiful blond Aryans.
• More Despicable Minion: He frequently urges Hynkel toward harsher policies.
• Punny Name: His name is very close to "garbage".
• Smart People Know Latin: He has at least two lines in Latin (one in a speech and one while talking to Hynkel alone), and is definitely more intelligent than Hynkel and Herring.
• The Social Darwinist
• Spock Speak
• Villain in a White Suit: His dress uniform is largely white.

Herring

Played by: Billy Gilbert

Hynkel's Minister of War. He supervises demonstrations of newly developed weapons, which tend to fail and annoy Hynkel.

• Butt-Monkey: His repeated failures to develop new equipment get him Hynkel's disdain; eventually, after clearing the room to let his Phooey and Napaloni speak, Hynkel orders him out, too.
• Chest of Medals: Field Marshal Herring is shown with tons of medals - almost enough to match his ego.
• Dark Is Evil: His third uniform is black and white, mostly black.
• Fat Bastard: What do you expect of a Goering parody? He's gotta have a large body for all those medals, and he isn't the Minister of War for being nice.
• General Failure: He demonstrates the new weapons for Hynkel, and they all end in failure.
• Insignia Ripoff Ritual
• Villain in a White Suit: His dress uniform is largely white.

Commander Schultz

Played by: Reginald Gardiner

Commander Schultz, a Tomainian who fought in World War I, who commands soldiers in the 1930s.

• Defector from Decadence: He objects to Hynkel's policies, but only really defects after he meets the Barber and Hynkel sends him to a concertration camp.
• Heel–Face Turn: Abandons Hynkel's regime when he sees the barber fighting the storm troopers.
• Officer and a Gentleman
• La Résistance: Attempts to start one in the ghetto. Keyword: attempts.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: After setting himself up as a resistance leader and starting a lottery to choose a suidcide attacker, he bids farewells to the jewish men before leaving the room. The problem is that he accidentally does the Hynkel salute while bidding the farewells.
• Dressing as the Enemy: In the final minutes, the barber and Schultz don stormtrooper uniforms after escaping the concertration camp.
• All for Nothing: In the beginning. His efforts to get the papers to general Smellawful are rendered meaningless, because when he finally gets there the war is over and Tomainia has lost.
• The Ghost: His wife or girlfriend Hilda.

D76 [or B76?]

Played by: ? ?

Herring's secret agent, who spies on Tomainia's workers.

• Dark Is Evil: Dressed in all black.

The people of Bacteria

Benzino Napaloni

Played by: Jack Oakie

The Diggaditchie of Bacteria, who also wants to invade Osterlitch.

• Boisterous Bruiser: Napaloni expresses his fondness for Hynkel by slapping him hard on the back and nearly shaking his arm off.
• Evil Wears Black: In the stadium scene, he wears a black uniform.

Madame Napaloni

Played by: Grace Hayle

Napaloni's wife.

• Butt-Monkey

Spook

Played by: Carter DeHaven

The Bacterian ambassador to Tomainia.

• Satellite Character