Characters / The Jungle Book (1967)

Characters that appeared in 1967's The Jungle Book and/or The Jungle Book 2. For characters of the 2016 Live-Action Adaptation, see here.

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Main Trio

Mowgli

Mowgli

Voiced by: Bruce Reitherman (original), Fred Savage (narration, Mowgli's Story), Haley Joel Osment (The Jungle Book 2), Maxim Knight (Kinect: Disneyland Adventures), Adan James Carrillo (Disney Speedstorm), Phoenix Reisser (Once Upon a Studio); Pascal Bressy (original film), Antoine Dubois (sequel) (European French dub); José Manuel Moraes Neto (original film, first dub), Matheus Caliano (original film, 2014 redub), Alexander Drummond (sequel) (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

A man-cub who lost his parents under mysterious circumstances, and is adopted by the Seeonee wolf clan.

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• Adaptational Modesty: Spends much of the book stark naked. For obvious reasons, the Disney version gave him a red loincloth.
• Adaptational Wimp: Mowgli in the original book, as well as every other adaptation, survives in the jungle by becoming the strongest and smartest badass the jungle has ever seen. In the Disney film, he is a Pinball Protagonist, though the final climax and the sequel show semblances of his book competence starting to arise.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy: Disney's version of Mowgli is always depicted with no nipples.
• Bratty Half-Pint: He obstinately refuses to pay very close attention to Bagheera and Baloo when they tell him he needs to go to the man village where he will be safe from Shere Khan. However, this stems more from him being afraid of change and the difficulty of leaving the only home he's ever known rather than arrogance.
• Character Catchphrase: "Yeah, man!" He picks it up from Baloo and proceeds to say it several times both in the original movie and in the sequel.
• Character Development: Gets a lot of this in the end and the sequel.
  • After imitating Shanti collecting water, he finally finds a being to relate to and thus realizes that he truly belongs with mankind.
  • He is far more mature and knowledgeable about the jungle.
  • He's forced to make difficult decisions for himself, choosing between living in the jungle with Baloo and Bagheera or living in the village with Shanti and Ranjan. Mowgli, knowing it's what's best for him, chooses the village, but also decides to simply visit Baloo in the jungle every day, finally setting an acceptable balance between his life as a jungle boy and a village boy.
• Fatal Flaw: Obstinacy. He rarely seems to entertain the possibility that he's wrong, and it lands him into trouble (sometimes life-threatening) on numerous occasions. However, by the end of the film, and throughout the second, he realizes that he must respect the opinions of others.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Through Rotoscoping, Bruce Reitherman (son of the film's director) actually became Mowgli in many scenes.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Mowgli is very obstinate and unruly, but is still overall a kind-hearted and happy-go-lucky child.
• Kid Has a Point: While he is talking with Bagheera at the beginning of the first film about what they're going to do about Shere Khan, Mowgli suggests simply explaining to the tiger that he would never become a hunter. Not only was Mowgli Raised by Wolves, but he has befriended many of the jungle's animals growing up, none of whom can acquire or use guns. Bagheera dismisses this suggestion, but this has more to do with Shere Khan being unable to be reasoned with than any flaw in Mowgli's logic. Baloo later tries to argue the same thing when they talk about sending Mowgli to the man-village.
• Kid Hero: A kid and the protagonist, although he is hardly seen doing anything heroic in the movie (until the last scene with Shere Khan). He becomes more competent in the sequel.
• Loincloth: Illustrated editions of the book sometimes depict him this way to avoid showing him naked, but in the Disney film he wears a red loincloth, which makes Baloo give him the nickname "Little Britches".
• Love at First Sight: Mowgli instantly loses all control of his mental faculties the moment he sees Shanti and hears her singing.
• Magic Pants: His loincloth is shown to be made out of pretty tough material. When Bagheera bites down on it to try to drag him to the man village, it stretches three feet back while Mowgli holds onto a small tree. Once Bagheera loses his grip, it just snaps back without any damage.
• Nice Guy: Although rebellious, he is genuinely compassionate and willing to help those in need.
• Nice Mean And In Between: He's the Mean to Baloo's Nice and Bagheera's In-Between. He's a Bratty Half-Pint who doesn't listen to Bagheera when the latter tries to send him to the Man Village and thinks he has all the necessary skills to survive in the jungle when he clearly doesn't.
• Official Couple: With Shanti by the end of the sequel.
• Oh, Crap!: Gets a very prominent one in the climax of the first film when Shere Khan decides to attack in earnest, and the boy finally realizes how much trouble he's in.
• Pinball Protagonist: Because of Disneyfication, he spends all his time reacting to the other characters and doesn't instigate any plot events. This is ironic if you know the character from Rudyard Kipling's original stories.
• Raised by Wolves: A literal example, and quite a Trope Codifier (along with Tarzan).
• Red Is Heroic: He wears a red loincloth.
• Single-Target Sexuality: In the sequel, he only loves Shanti and no one else.
• Took a Level in Badass: Mowgli thankfully gets more capable in the sequel.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: He only wears a red loincloth.
• Wedgie: Mowgli ends up becoming a victim of this twice in the first film.
  • An impatient Bagheera bites down on his loincloth and pulls at one point to forcibly drag him to the Man Village, while Mowgli holds onto a tree and kicks him in the face until the panther loses his grip.
  • After the monkeys drop Mowgli, King Louie hooks his fingers in the kid's loincloth and holds him up at arm's length while Mowgli tries to hit him.

Baloo

Baloo

Voiced by: Phil Harris (original), John Goodman (The Jungle Book 2), Thurl Ravenscroft (Disney on Parade), Pamela Adlon (Jungle Cubs), Ed Gilbert (TaleSpin, Jungle Cubs, adult), Brian Doyle Murray (Mowgli's Story), Steve Curtis Chapman (Rhythm'n Groove), Bill Murray (live-action remake), Joel McCrary (2002—present), Jim Cummings (Once Upon a Studio); Claude Bertrand (original film), Richard Darbois (sequel) (European French dub); Alberto Perez (original film, classic dub), Mauro Ramos (original film, 2014 redub), Roberto Macedo (sequel) (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

A sloth bear who is best friends with Mowgli.

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• Adaptational Comic Relief: He becomes a fun-loving character who loves to sing silly songs, including a scatting duel with an orangutan, rather than a serious law teacher like in the books.
• Adaptational Badass: Downplayed. In at least one storybook, Baloo legitimately attempted to defend Mowgli from Shere Khan. Once Shere Khan got past him, it them devolved into him simply holding onto the tiger by the tail rather than starting out that way as in the film.
• Adaptational Dumbass: In the book, Baloo is the wise, strict but fair, teacher, well respected by the wolves and Bagheera for his vast knowledge of the laws, languages, and customs of the different jungle animals. Here, Baloo is a silly, lighthearted, shiftless, and rather irresponsible character, and more of a fun uncle/older brother figure to Mowgli than the mentor/grandfatherly figure he was in the books.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Whilst a good guy in both versions, Baloo was much more negative and stern in the books, instead of the kind, friendly Gentle Giant of the Disney version.
• Adaptation Personality Change: In the original book, Baloo was more of a serious and rational (if somewhat amateurish) old mentor, but here he's a happy-go-lucky, lighthearted loafer.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Originally, Baloo was supposed to only have a cameo role as one of the animals Mowgli and Bagheera encountered on their trek through the jungle — but Phil Harris's voicework made such an impression on the moviemakers that the bear was upgraded to one of the main characters.
  • To some extent, in comparison with his book counterpart as well. Baloo of the book was in no way a minor character, but he was never the star of the show the way the Disney version is.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Normally very kind, but harm his friends and he will kick your sorry tush.
• Bears Are Bad News: Averted. Despite Bagheera's fears of his Toxic Friend Influence on Mowgli, he's not an example of this, see Beary Friendly.
• Beary Friendly: Baloo becomes a friend to Mowgli.
• Beary Funny: He epitomizes the "lovable lug" archetype for bears.
• Big Fun: In bear form.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Quite often.
• Breakout Character: Baloo eclipsed Mowgli in popularity, being the most heavily merchandised character of the Disney adaptations as well as being promoted to the lead protagonist in the spin-off TaleSpin.
• Character Catchphrase: Baloo's "You better believe it".
• Cowardly Lion: Despite his fear of Shere Khan, he's ready to face the tiger head-on to guard Mowgli.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Is unfortunately on the receiving end of this when Shere Khan directs his rage towards him.
• Disney Death: After his Curb-Stomp Battle with Shere Khan.
• A Dog Named "Dog": A bilingual example: "Baloo" means "bear" in Hindi, so Baloo could also be known as "Bear, the bear".
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: During "The Bare Necessities", Baloo uses a jagged rock wall to scratch his butt. If you pause at a few frames, you can clearly see that he using the rock wall to scratch not just across his buttocks, but between them as well.
• Fun Personified: He's very fun-loving and easy-going, in contrast to Bagheera.
• Gentle Giant: A gentle, good-natured, big bear.
• Hakuna Matata: "Bare Necessities".
• Indy Ploy: His plan to rescue Mowgli from King Louie.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Like Shere Khan and King Louie, he is heavily based on his voice actor, Phil Harris.
• Lazy Bum: Baloo has no plans besides relaxing and enjoying the "Bare Necessities" of life.
• The Nicknamer: He calls Mowgli "little britches" and calls Bagheera "Baggy". At one point, he gleefully refers to Shere Khan as "Old Stripes".
• Nice Guy: Is exceedingly kind and sociable.
• Nice Mean And In Between: He's the Nice to Mowgli's mean and Bagheera's In-Between He's the Big Fun of the three who teaches Mowgli the bare necessities.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Once he realizes the peril Mowgli is in, Baloo drops all the jokes and comic relief and becomes a fearful, worrying mess as he tries to tell Mowgli what must be done.
• Papa Wolf: Towards Mowgli. Messing with Mowgli will get you trouble from Baloo. He tells the monkeys outright, "Keep your flea pickin' hands offa my cub!" and he's even willing to face down Shere Khan to protect Mowgli.
  Oh, if anything happens to that little guy, I'll never forgive myself! I gotta find him!
• Paper-Thin Disguise: In drag with the monkeys.
• Parental Substitute: He acts as this to Mowgli for the brief time they are together.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Bagheera's Blue.
• Scatting: What Baloo is doing when we first meet him, pointing up his identity as The Slacker.
• The Slacker: In contrast to his book counterpart, Disney Baloo is a Lazy Bum who teaches Mowgli about relaxing, having fun and eating ants.
• Somewhere, a Mammalogist Is Crying: As a sloth bear, Baloo should be equal to Shere Khan, as both sloth bears and Bengal tigers are capable of taking each other on, even killing each other. He gets his ass handed to him by Shere Khan in the film, though Baloo wasn't much of a fighter and Shere Khan is implied to be even more deadly and dangerous than the average tiger.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Bagheera.

Bagheera

Bagheera

Voiced by: Sebastian Cabot (original), Bob Joles (Rhythm'n Groove, The Jungle Book 2), Elizabeth Daily and Dee Bradley Baker (Jungle Cubs), Jim Cummings (Jungle Cubs, adult), Eartha Kitt (Mowgli's Story), Ben Kingsley (live-action remake); René Arrieu (original film), Gabriel Le Doze (sequel) (European French dub); Joaquim Motta (original film, classic dub), Ednaldo Lucena (sequel, 2014 redub) (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

A black leopard who serves as Mowgli's guardian for most of the original film, and the somewhat reluctant companion of Baloo.

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• Adaptational Comic Relief: Downplayed. He remains a serious character but often ends up becoming The Comically Serious and the Deadpan Snarker to Baloo.
• Adaptational Wimp: In the original book, he was one of the jungle's most feared and respected predators. In the Disney version... he isn't. Other than growling ferociously and swiping at the monkeys at one point, he generally stays out of the action scenes or gets injured in an amusing way. In fact, the universe at large seems to have it in for him, which is only increased in the sequel; if anything bad happens, it tends to happen to him.
• Anger Born of Worry: Bagheera is negative and easily irritated throughout the movie, but it's hard to blame him, when Mowgli, whom he's worrying sick about, adamantly refuses to acknowledge the danger he's in.
• Armor-Piercing Response: He delivers a sharp one to Baloo, who doesn't want to let Mowgli go.
  Baloo: I love that kid. I love him like he was my own cub.
  Bagheera: Then think of what's best for Mowgli and not yourself!
• Big Good: Serves this role due to being the Only Sane Man, and very knowledgeable about the jungle and its many dangers. Plus he found Mowgli as an infant and gave him to the wolves to raise.
• Butt-Monkey: In the vein of Sebastian, Cogsworth, and Zazu after him, he's a frequent victim of slapstick in the film: he stumbles backwards into a stream trying to drag Mowgli by his loincloth and then hits his head on a fallen tree trying to raise his head, is accidentally hit by Baloo a couple of times, has a rock fall onto his tail, and those are just a few of his troubles.
• Cats Are Snarkers: Easily the grumpiest character in the movie.
• Character Narrator: In this version.
• The Chew Toy: He's hit a lot, probably to show he's enduring. He even flew into a creek after the attempt to drag Mowgli to the Village by his loincloth failed.
• The Comically Serious: Being the Only Sane Man but also The Chew Toy.
• Dark Is Not Evil: A melanistic leopard who happens one of the most kindhearted characters in the film.
• Deadpan Snarker: The biggest one in the movie.
  Baloo: Oh, stop worrying, Baggy! Stop worrying! I'll take care of him.
  Bagheera: Yes, like you did when the monkeys kidnapped him, huh?
• Demoted to Extra: Bagheera in the sequel. Though he's one of the most important characters in both Kipling's book and in the original movie, in the sequel he's barely involved in the plot and only shows up to stop Baloo from taking Mowgli from the man village. When he’s not doing that, he’s the unintended victim of physical abuse.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Both Baloo and Mowgli dismiss his worries, to Bagheera's frustration; but he is right about the boy being in grave danger, which Baloo later recognizes and admits that bringing Mowgli to the man-village is a sensible thing to do.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Bagheera is almost constantly annoyed by everyone's antics and incredibly uptight and cranky, but he deeply cares about Mowgli, and just wants to know he's safe.
• Knight in Sour Armor: He grouches and complains, but all he ultimately wants is for Mowgli to be safe; and he's willing to go through hell in order to ensure the man-cub's survival. He even resorted to dragging Mowgli by his shorts at one point when he stubbornly refused to let go of a small tree.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Briefly has this reaction, after ditching Mowgli, whom he then believes to be in danger.
• Nice Guy: While the In-Between described below, it should be noted Bagheera's first instinct on seeing Mowgli is to take him to the wolves who just had a litter of pups and might be able to take care of him. While stern with Mowgli, he's also decidedly non-violent with him throughout and surprisingly gentle with him considering how he acts. And it is shown that Bagheera in a good mood is a rather pleasant individual if he's not worried sick about his charge.
• Nice Mean And In Between: He's the In-Between to Baloo's Nice and Mowgli's Mean. While he is stern with Mowgli when the latter doesn't listen to him, he does have his safety at heart.
• Only Sane Man: He's certainly much saner than Baloo and Mowgli.
• Panthera Awesome: In the book, Bagheera was born in captivity but escaped into the jungle, becoming one of its most feared and respected predators. His cunning and bravery make him one of the best teachers a young man-cub could ever want. In the film generally downplays his awesomeness, though he's still one of the saner and smarter characters and a few moments during the fight against the monkeys show that he can be fierce when he needs to be.
• Papa Wolf: Not as prominent as Baloo, but he does care deeply about Mowgli and is quite overprotective of him, as displayed by his paranoia regarding Baloo and his actions during the temple scene. He also saves Mowgli from getting eaten by Kaa by slapping the python, forcing him to drop and awaken the boy. The Kaa scene in particular is done despite what may happen to him - and indeed Kaa quickly gets the upper-hand on a clearly-terrified Bagheera. This happens frequently, and emphasizes Bagheera's Papa Wolf nature: even if he risks himself getting in harm's way, he'll do it to spare Mowgli.
• Parental Substitute: While Mowgli is Raised by Wolves, Bagheera was the one who found him, and later the one who accompanies him to the man village.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Baloo's Red.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Attempted it twice, but ultimately always returned.
• She's a Man in Japan: In the original 1968 Finnish dub, Bagheera is a female character. The 1993 re-dub switches his gender back to male.
• Shipper on Deck: When he sees Mowgli falling for a girl from the village, he gives Mowgli a sly smile and encourages him as he moves closer to her, unlike Baloo who doesn't want Mowgli to go away.
• Stealth Insult: He gives a sharp one to Baloo when he tells him he can take care of Mowgli and saying "I'll learn him all I know!"
  Bagheera: Well, that shouldn't take too long.
• Straight Man: Compared to Baloo, he's a real stick in the mud.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Compared to the original books, where he's the most relaxed character except where Mowgli's in danger. Then again, Bagheera starts the film quite close to his book depiction, only to have to repeatedly have to deal with Mowgli not listening to him, which gets him more and more frustrated - understandably - throughout the rest. Most of it at least is Anger Born of Worry, but he takes less guff from Mowgli than the original books ever even bothered to give him.
• Undying Loyalty: Despite how stubborn and arrogant Mowgli can be, he'll do whatever it takes to keep him out of harm's way.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Baloo.
• Wedgie: He accidentally gives one to Mowgli when he tries to pull him off a tree by grabbing his loincloth.

Antagonists

Shere Khan

Voiced by: George Sanders (The Jungle Book), Bill Lee (singing), Candy Candido and Clarence Nash (roars); John Stephenson (Disney's Greatest Villains, UK VHS) ; Tony Jay (TaleSpin, Rhythm'n Groove, The Jungle Book 2), Frank Welker (roars, sequel); Jason Marsden (Jungle Cubs); Sherman Howard (Mowgli's Story); Idris Elba (live-action remake); Jean Martinelli (original movie), Dick Rivers (sequel) (European French dub); Roberto Maya (original film, classic dub), José Santanna (original film, 2014 redub and sequel) (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

A sturdy, suave Bengal tiger, and the main antagonist, who has nothing but disdain for his victims. His reputation is such that he needs only to show himself to intimidate the inhabitants of the jungle. His only fears are fire and guns.

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• Abled in the Adaptation: In the original novel, Shere Khan has a crippled foreleg. He is a man-eater specifically because his disability stops him from being fast enough to catch a deer, antelope, or buffalo. In this movie, however, he doesn't have such a disability, making him a more threatening villain.
• Adaptational Badass: Shere Khan in the film is far more menacing than he was in the original books. This is especially true in the 2016 movie.
• Adaptational Jerkass: To a much lesser extent than Kaa, but still present. While he was a maneater in the book as well, it was partly out of necessity, since humans were one of the few prey he could catch with his bum leg. His disability is absent in the Disney film, and he wants to kill humans because he hates and fears them, not for survival albeit for a good reason. There is at least one storybook that states he had been shot at by a hunter, but never specifies if the hunter had actually hit him nor the circumstances that led him to be shot at.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: In Mowgli's Story, due to Kaa being Adapted Out, Shere Khan inherits the python's hypnotic gaze. In a bit of Truth in Television, staring at a cat in the eyes is a way to issuing a challenge towards them.
• Ambiguous Situation: At least one storybook based on the Disney film states that Shere Khan hates humans because he had been shot at by a hunter. Due to that being all it says, it is ambiguous as to whether this is Shere Khan thinking Humans Are Bastards or if this is a case of Never My Fault.
• Arch-Enemy: To Mowgli
  • In the book, Shere Khan tries to kill Mowgli as a baby, which leads to the wolves adopting him. Thus, Mowgli and Khan become archenemies, with their feud lasting for many years.
  • In the 1967 film, it's Shere Khan's arrival that forces Mowgli to leave the jungle, the only home he's ever known. When the two finally meet for the first time, Khan nearly kills Mowgli's friend Baloo, and Mowgli ties a burning branch to Khan's tail. This leads to the tiger seeking revenge in the sequel.
• The Berserker: His default mood is thoroughly cool-headed and affable, if shrewdly merciless. Once he actually decides to fight in earnest, he is absolutely savage.
• Big Bad: He hates all humans and wants to kill Mowgli. The plot starts when the wolves learn that Shere Khan is back in their part of the jungle and discuss Mowgli's fate.
• Butt Biter: He sinks his teeth into Baloo's bum during the climax.
• Cats Are Mean: Shere Khan's very name is enough to bring a chill down the other animals' spines.
• Cats Are Snarkers: Though he doesn't get many lines, comes across as at least somewhat snarky.
• Character Exaggeration: While maintaining a menacing presence in all Disney adaptations, it was nuanced slightly in the first film by his more whimsical, playful demeanor. In most later depictions (particularly in the sequel) he is much more stoic and sinister in tone, only having a few subtle comical fluctuations.
• The Comically Serious: Particularly during his confrontation with Kaa. He can be very funny in a dry way, while still being intimidating.
• Create Your Own Villain: Shere Khan doesn’t become aware of Mowgli's presence in the jungle until he overhears Bagheera reporting it to Hathi. It’s possible Mowgli could’ve made it to the man village without Shere Khan learning about him.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Delivers a nasty one to Baloo in the climax.
• Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments. Most notably during his conversation with Kaa.
• Disney Villain Death:
  • Averted in the original film, in which he flees after his tail is tied to a burning branch, and subverted in the sequel, as he survives the fall AND the tiger statue head falling on him.
  • Played completely straight in the 2016 movie.
• Doesn't Like Guns: One of the reasons why he hates humans.
• The Dreaded:
  • Everyone and their mother is afraid of him, barring Colonel Hathi and his herd but the elephants are ineffectual at detecting the tiger, let alone catching him. His very presence in the jungle sets the plot of the movie in motion, indeed well before he even learns Mowgli is in the jungle. Well, not everyone, but those who aren't...
  • Zig-zagged in the Mowgli Stories; he is considered a bully and a coward by other animals in the jungle. They just don't bother him because for all that he is a laughingstock, he's still a tiger. Amongst humans, he is notorious enough to have a bounty of his head.
• Embarrassing First Name: In the book, the name his mother gave him is "Lungri", which means "the lame one". His self-given title means "tiger king", and is what all but two characters use to refer to him.
• Evil Brit: He is not the only character to have a British accent (Bagheera and Colonel Hathi have one,) but he certainly gives off this vibe.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Being voiced by George Sanders and later Tony Jay, both of whom had formidable bass and baritone voices, this is to be expected.
• Faux Affably Evil: He is respectful and polite. Oh, but he still wants to kill you. The fact that he can be so suave and courteous about killing a boy riles Kaa up to no end.
• Final Boss: In the games.
• Genius Bruiser: A vicious and bloodthirsty, yet also an intelligent and Faux Affably Evil, tiger. This is displayed even moreso in the book when he manipulates the younger wolves into becoming his minions and turning against Mowgli and Akela.
• Handicapped Badass: He has a limp that prevents him from hunting most other animals in the book - which is why he goes after humans and cattle, things too defenseless or slow to fight back. In the Disney adaptation this is left out.
• Hero Killer: Nearly kills Baloo in a Curb-Stomp Battle.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: It has been strongly implied that he sees humans as unforgiving and soulless creatures who continuously cause havoc on nature, using narcissistic entitlement as justification for such acts.
• I Gave My Word: He offers Mowgli a 10-count head start and actually adheres to it. He never said he wouldn't speed up the count and Mowgli standing his ground with a stick to try and fight Shere Khan off instead of using the time to run and hide was pretty stupid.
• Immune to Mind Control: Shere Khan can completely No-Sell Kaa's Hypnotic Eyes through sheer willpower.
• Ink-Suit Actor: An admitted◊ — and downright uncanny — example.
• It's Personal: In the first film, his desire to kill Mowgli is not out of any malice of him as an individual, but a prejudice of his species. In the sequel, his hatred is completely directed at the boy after being humiliated by him, even willing to walk into a village of the species he fears just so he can kill Mowgli specifically.
• Joker Immunity: A rare example of a Disney movie Big Bad having this. He not only survives both films, but every Disney adaptation in general, at least until the 2016 remake but that's another story.
• The Juggernaut: He is the most feared animal in the jungle. The wolf counsel believe that even the pack wouldn't be able to protect Mowgli from him. He completely cows Kaa, a dangerous predator in his own right, into submission and can No-Sell his hypnotic gaze. At the end of the film he delivers a brutal Curb-Stomp Battle to Baloo, a bear roughly the same size as him, and drags him along effortlessly.
• Kill All Humans: He hunts down and kills humans who enter his jungle due to his hatred of them.
• Knight of Cerebus: As Faux Affably Evil as he is, his appearance in the original film stops much of the fun and silly mood and makes things darker and more tense. This is carried up to eleven where he's concerned in the Lighter and Softer sequel.
• Lack of Empathy: He has absolutely no qualms about murdering a young boy, due to his extreme xenophobia.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: Inverted; he is a villain that sports an incredibly pronounced chin.
• Lightning Bruiser: Is able to nearly outrun Mowgli even while dragging Baloo (who probably weighs more than he does) along behind him.
• Manipulative Bastard: In the book he turns almost the entire wolf pack against Mowgli and Akela.
• Meaningful Name: Shere Khan's name in Hindi means "tiger king" or "king of tigers" ("shere" means tiger, "khan" means king).
• Named After the Injury: Is often referred to as "Lungri", which means "the Lame One", as he was born with a crippled leg.
• Never My Fault:
  • In the sequel, he believes Kaa knows where Mowgli is (after hearing the snake grumble "man-cub"), but truthfully, Kaa has no clue where Mowgli is, but Shere Khan won't believe him and continues to threaten the snake. So to save his skin, Kaa fearfully lies that Mowgli's at the swamp, allowing him to flee. When Shere Khan arrives at the swamp, with Mowgli nowhere to be found, he angrily growls "That snake lied to me!" Well, Shere Khan, you didn't believe Kaa when he told you he didn't know where the man-cub was. Sometimes you just gotta believe the snake when he tells you the truth for once.
  • In a case of All There in the Manual due to a storybook adaptation of the film, it is simply stated that Shere Khan hates humans because he had been shot at by a hunter. Due to the ambiguity of the text, the shot easily could have been in self-defense.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Kaa would have surely eaten Mowgli had Khan not interrupted the snake and interrogate him, killing the mancub long before he could ever harness the power of fire. By doing so, the tiger inadvertently broke Kaa's trance over the boy, giving him opportunity to escape.
• Nice Mean And In Between: He's the Mean to King Louie's Nice and Kaa's In-Between. He wants to kill Mowgli so the latter won't have the chance to grow up to become a hunter.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: He becomes this in the sequel, where his personality is much darker and has no comedic quirks.
• No-Sell: Kaa's hypnosis doesn't affect him. Whether he's naturally immune or just makes sure to break eye contact before any damage is done is not clear.
• No Song for the Wicked: Not counting his solo in "That's What Friends Are For". He did have a deleted Villain Song called "The Mighty Hunters".
• Oh, Crap!: Has a moment◊ when he realises Mowgli has managed to tie a flaming branch to his tail.
• The Only One Allowed To Kill You: Has this attitude regarding Mowgli and implicitly threatens Kaa under pain of death should he learn that the python has so much as encountered the boy without informing him first, let alone eating him.
• Panthera Awesome: Big time! This tiger is afraid of almost nothing and is implied to be capable to curb-stomp a wolf tribe on his own. And his treatment of Baloo is nothing to sneeze at.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: And an incredibly chilling one at that, considering the Lighter and Softer sequel.
  (having Lucky by the throat and grinning)
  Shere Khan: Isn't it ironic that your name is Lucky?
• Roar Before Beating:
  • His first pounce towards Mowgli is accompanied by a Mighty Roar. Justified because he's not trying to conserve his strength or be sneaky, and has gotten so incensed by Mowgli's defiance that he clearly wants to scare him. It works.
  • Averted in his opening scene; he stalks a deer in total silence (like a real tiger) rather than loudly charging it, suggesting that he's happy to rely on stealth when he's hunting to eat rather than to satisfy his personal enmity with humans.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Becomes stuck in a tiger statue at the end of the sequel. Had there been a third movie he would have escaped somehow.
• Sissy Villain: Downplayed. He's a genuinely feared predator of the jungle (he's mentioned as being stronger than the wolf pack combined), but his wrath is hidden by an amusingly flamboyant, playful, and soft spoken demeanor. It's outright averted in the sequel, where he's much more serious.
• Slasher Smile: Bares a nasty one straight before he mauls Lucky in the sequel.
• Smug Smiler: While he's in Faux Affably Evil mode however, this is his default expression.
• Smug Snake: While much more dangerous than most examples of this trope (his fearsome reputation is fully justified), his overconfidence is nonetheless his undoing; in both films, he had many chances to kill Mowgli, but decided to toy with him instead.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Throughout the first film, he raises his voice only twice.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • He's Killed Off for Real at the end of the original book (though he appears in a flashback story in the sequel), yet he not only survives both animated Disney films, but every adaptation by Disney in general except the 2016 film.
  • In an alternative ending (storyboarded for the Diamond Edition Blu-Ray), Shere Khan is killed by Mowgli after Mowgli accidentally pulls the trigger on a hunter's gun.
  • In the 2013 stage version, he does in fact burn to death after Mowgli accidentally sets him on fire.
• Sugary Malice: Almost always outwardly affable and gentlemanly, but his cryptic threats and idle flexing of claws make very clear what his intents are. His interactions with Kaa in particular stand out.
• Tranquil Fury: While his actual combat behaviour is that of The Berserker, he is very calm and collected before that times. Particularly pronounced in the sequel, where his slow-burning fury is palpable in every appearance.
• Unseen Evil: For much of the film he isn't seen or heard. We only hear and see from other characters that he's the most feared, dangerous creature in the jungle, and the mention of his name often results in a more serious tone. Towards the end the tiger finally appears, and while he's Faux Affably Evil, he's every bit of the Badass he's hyped up to be, especially when he shows his true colors in the final fight. He gets more screentime in the sequel, where he's even more if a Knight of Cerebus.
• Uncertain Doom: He is defeated in the second film after falling into a lava gorge while trying to kill Mowgli and Shanti, landing safely on a slab of rock, but gets trapped underneath the head of a tiger statue. Due to a lack of ways to escape from such a predicament, it can be implied that Shere Khan stayed there until he inevitably starved. Though he was intended to escape had an intended third film not been cancelled...
• The Unfettered: As Bagheera says, Shere Khan will not wait until Mowgli becomes a man. He'll kill Mowgli while he's young and defenseless.
• Weak to Fire: Fire is the only thing Shere Khan truly fears.
• Would Hit a Girl: He has no problem killing Shanti, though he does offer to spare her life if Mowgli gives himself up.
• Would Hurt a Child: Why? Because they're human, and still "young and helpless".
• Villain Has a Point: Subverted. In his deleted song, he starts with the very logical argument that it is unfair to shun and fear him without knowing much about him, only to smugly note that all those who do know him are well justified in hating him.

Kaa

Voiced by: Sterling Holloway (The Jungle Book); Hal Smith (1977-1983); Jim Cummings (1990 - current), Scarlett Johansson (live-action remake)
Dubbed by: Roger Carel (European French); Magalhães Graça (original film, classic dub), Alexander Moreno (original film, 2014 redub and sequel) (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

An enormous python, and the secondary antagonist in the film.

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• Adapted Out: He is not present in Mowgli's Story.
• Adaptational Comic Relief: Adaptational Villainy aside, Walt Disney's goofy if Not So Harmless villain is quite different from the wise, serious python from the books.
• Adaptational Villainy: Kaa provides the trope's page image. In the original books, he was one of Mowgli's friends and a benevolent, yet serious badass Old Master, even saving his life twice.
• Adaptational Wimp: Kaa was also much more badass in the original book - he's not intimidated by anyone, is near-unstoppable, and he's one of the most powerful and feared animals in the jungle because of his vast knowledge and hypnotic powers.
• Big Bad Wannabe: He just can't compete with Shere Khan.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He tries to sound polite and endearing but he's nothing but a manipulative and sinister predator who takes advantage of the innocence of children.
• Butt-Monkey: Especially in the sequel, where every time he tries to eat Mowgli he suffers countless Amusing Injuries. Later on, he's brutally beaten up again when he tries to eat Shanti and his last appearance has him being threatened by Shere Khan.
• Character Exaggeration: Kaa's incompetence and cowardliness are greatly exaggerated in the second movie to the point where he becomes something of a Butt-Monkey, whereas in the first he was genuinely menacing yet constantly unsuccessful, and his general fear of Shere Khan (the same as everyone else) is exaggerated to not being able to form full sentences around him.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: A known villain who uses a soothing voice/demeanor and the "You can trust me" angle to lure children into his clutches...
• The Dreaded: Not to the same level as his book counterpart, but in the first film Bagheera is genuinely horrified when he sees him hypnotizing Mowgli and is rendered too afraid to move when Kaa turns on him instead.
  Kaa: (in a stern, but calm voice) Look me in the eye when I'm speaking to you!
  Bagheera: (absolutely terrified) Please, Kaa...
  Kaa: Both eyes, if you please.
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Notable in that the design changes mid-movie - in the first act, Kaa looks much more snake-like, while in the third act he's much more stylized. The change can be generalized as Kaa's eyes coming together in the third act when they were far apart in the first act, and later appearances (including the second movie) go with the second, more stylized design.
  • This mainly had to do with the animation on Kaa in both scenes. In the first scene he is animated by Frank Thomas. During the development of the film, he became an in-house invoked Ensemble Dark Horse, leading to him getting his Villain Song and a second scene. This was done by Milt Kahl, primarily to have him flow better with Kahl's main contribution to the film, Shere Khan.
  • The video game adaptations Take a Third Option by combining both designs, using the Kahl design when he uses his hypnotism and in close-up shots and the Thomas design for most of the boss fight.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He finds it despicable that Shere Khan wants to kill Mowgli for the sake of it, as opposed to Kaa who just wants to eat him.
• Evil Is Hammy: Quite fond of Evil Gloating.
• Exact Words: In their second encounter, Kaa promises to make sure Mowgli never has to leave the jungle... and intends to keep that promise by eating him.
• Fatal Flaw: Pride. He's right to be confident in his own powers, but overconfidence leads to him losing Mowgli in the first encounter by bragging and waking up Bagheera. Then his irritation at Shere Khan in the second encounter wounds his pride, causing him to rant and shiver enough to loosen his coils and free Mowgli by accident. And in both cases the wounded pride makes him too single-minded on what wounded it, leaving Mowgli unhindered and with plenty of time to throw his coils off the branch.
• Faux Affably Evil: He acts very courteous to Mowgli, but this is only to lure him into a false sense of security before devouring him.
• The Hyena: Not outright laughing, but much of his dialogue has him on the verge of chuckling, and he does no less than twice in each encounter, whether out of sadistic amusement or excitement.
• Hypocrite: He insults Shere-Khan behind his back for being a creep picking on poor, little, helpless Mowgli while still holding the kid in his coils to be his prey.
• Hypnotic Eyes: He has these type of eyes in the Disney movie, as shown in this clip, starting at 0:20.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: More so in the sequel. In the original movie, while still ineffectual and Laughably Evil, he was more threatening.
• Laughably Evil: A silly, faint-hearted snake with a lisp who is very funny and entertaining.
• Manipulative Bastard: Has his moments where he tries to deceive and hypnotise innocent children into trusting him just so he can eat them.
• More than Mind Control: Kaa might rely on his hypnotic eyes, but during his second encounter with Mowgli some have speculated that his offer to help Mowgli stay in the jungle may have helped convince Mowgli lower his guard just enough for Kaa to get past his initial resistance.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: A more accidental example, but him hypnotizing Shanti in the sequel and her being saved by Ranjan sort of played into her Character Development about being less scared of the jungle.
• Nice Mean And In Between: He's the In-Between to King Louie's Nice and Shere Khan's Mean. He has a gentle way of handling his prey and briefly feels pity for Mowgli before deciding to eat him anyway.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: People tend to forget that despite Kaa's comical attitude and subservience to Shere Khan, he is considered a very legitimate threat by everyone in the jungle due to his hypnotic eyes, and almost succeeded in eating Mowgli alive twice. In the original film he handily neutralized Bagheera, who even cowers before him, and made it clear that he was going to kill the panther for daring to strike him.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: When Khan questions him about the whereabouts of Mowgli, Kaa casually says "Search me." This immediately bites him when Khan interpreted it to search him to find out if Mowgli's with him or in his belly.^note "Search me" is an archaic idiomatic expression that means "I don't know", which Kaa actually was trying to refer to. However, befitting his character, he clearly chose the wrong kind of words to say when Khan was around.
  • His first encounter gloating after hypnotizing Mowgli is the loudest he speaks during that scene. It's also just loud and brazen enough to get Bagheera's attention.
  • "Ooooh, he gives me the sssssshivers!" Cue actual shivers, which are enough to loosen his coils from Mowgli and free him from Kaa's hypnosis despite Mowgli being pinned and asleep and unable to do anything otherwise. Amusingly, this leads to Kaa getting pushed out of the tree right when he finally remembers the "poor little helpless boy".
• Plot-Irrelevant Villain: Unlike Shere Khan, who causes the plot of the movie with his mere existence, Kaa is nothing more than another obstacle who reminds that danger always lurks in the jungle.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: In the book, Kaa was one of the main mentors for Mowgli. In the Disney adaptation, he was transformed into a villain because apparently it was thought by Disney that audiences wouldn't accept a snake as a heroic character.
• Sissy Villain: He's pretty damn camp.
• Snakes Are Sinister: A complex example - the original book averted the trope, but all three Disney adaptations play it straight. As a result of Adaptation Displacement, this has bled into other portrayals of his character. However, more book-faithful adaptations like The Jungle Book and Adventures of Mowgli also avert the trope by presenting Kaa in his original role as an ally.
• Sssssnake Talk: Kaa speaks with a s-s-sibilant lis-s-sp, particularly during the song "Trust in Me".
• Sugary Malice: Ninety percent of his interactions with Mowgli are with a smile as wide as his face, and almost constantly on the verge of chuckling. His second encounter also makes him play on Mowgli's sympathies and loneliness and a (false) offer of friendship. It's only when his plans are thwarted that he drops the facade and gets truly predatory and vicious. Bagheera, for example, gets none of the faux soothing that Mowgli gets with Kaa opting for a more direct approach that's aggressive and borderline sadistic, and Kaa almost attacks Mowgli when he manages to escape during the second encounter.
• Tenor Boy: Thanks to his voice actor Sterling Holloway.
• Tranquil Fury: When Bagheera strikes him to stop him from eating Mowgli, slamming his head into a branch, Kaa hypnotizes the panther and makes it clear a menacingly calm tone that he's going to die. It's only Mowgli shoving Kaa's coils out of the tree that saves Bagheera from being eaten too.
• Villainous Rescue: He ends up hiding Mowgli from Shere Khan while the latter was looking to kill the man cub, although he did it for obviously selfish and nefarious reasons (he wanted to eat Mowgli for himself).
• Villain Song: "Trust In Me".
• Wake-Up Call Boss: He poses a significant threat to Mowgli and immediately proves the exact threats of the jungle that Bagheera was trying to warn him about. Bagheera even uses the Kaa's attack as evidence that Mowgli really wouldn't survive a day on his own in the jungle.
• Warm-Up Boss: The first boss in the video game adaptations, and a particularly easy one at that.
• Would Hit a Girl: After all the failed attempts to eat Mowgli, he also tries to eat Shanti in the sequel and mind-controls her to boot.
• Would Hurt a Child: ...or eat a child, in this case.

Content exclusive to the books

• Badass Boast: Gives one in "Red Dog":
  Kaa (to Mowgli): I have seen a hundred and a hundred rains. Ere Hathi cast his milk-tushes my trail was big in the dust. By the First Egg I am older than many trees, and I have seen all the Jungle has done. [...] I have seen all the dead seasons, and the great trees and the old elephants, and the rocks that were bare and sharp-pointed ere the moss grew. Art thou still alive, Manling?
• Big Damn Heroes: His arrival at the Cold Lairs completely changes the tide of Bagheera and Baloo's battle against the Monkey-people.
• Cool Old Guy: Kaa is over a hundred years old and thirty feet long. His age hasn't slowed him down one bit.
• Creepy Good: He's one of the most dangerous and feared animals for good reason, and the scene where he hypnotizes the Bandar-log to eat them is deeply unsettling. He's still one of Mowgli's most powerful allies and saves his life twice.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kaa is noted as often being rather moody and is sometimes easily offended, but he treats Mowgli rather well after Mowgli compliments him for his rescue and the two are rather close afterwards.
• Mass Hypnosis: He uses a hypnotic dance called "The Dance of the Hunger of Kaa" to hypnotize and consume a large number of monkeys. Only Mowgli is unaffected.
• Old Master: Kaa is over a hundred years old, and is considered one of the wisest and most powerful animals in the jungle. He is the only animal the monkeys truly fear, and helps Mowgli defeat a pack of dholes who threaten the Seeonee wolf pack. He's also every bit as much a mentor to Mowgli as Baloo and Bagheera are, engaging in friendly wrestling matches.
• The Omniscient: Kaa is stated to be all-knowing. Again, his age probably contributes to this.

Other Characters

King Louie

Voiced by: Louis Prima (The Jungle Book), Scatman Crothers (Disney on Parade), Jim Cummings (TaleSpin, Rhythm'n Groove, Mickey's Magical Map), Jason Marsden (Jungle Cubs), Cree Summer (Jungle Cubs), Christopher Walken (live-action remake); José Bartel (original movie) (European French dub); Booker Pittman (original film, classic dub), Márcio Simões (original film, 2014 redub) (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

A rowdy orangutan who was crowned King of the Apes.

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• Ambition Is Evil: Downplayed. He's bored with being King of the Apes and now wants to be more like a human. To that end, he's willing to have Mowgli kidnapped, thinking the boy knows the secret of fire-making—which Louie believes will make him humanlike.
• Animal Gender-Bender: He does not possess the cheek flanges of male orangutans in real life.
• Anti-Villain: Despite being one of the movie's antagonists (he does have Mowgli kidnapped to learn the secret of fire for his own ends), his friendly demeanour and fun-loving attitude along with the fact that he never actually threatens Mowgli, makes it hard to think of him as a villain. Most subsequent media tends to play him off as more of a Lovable Rogue and places him in the heroes camp.
• Breakout Character: Even though he made a small appearance, he's the second most popular character below Baloo. Indeed, he appears also in TaleSpin.
• Canon Foreigner: Louie was created especially for the movie.
• Canon Immigrant: He has appeared in a few other works based on the stories that the Disney film is based on, most notably Fables, which, as an afterthought, the creator Bill Willingham described as, "a very good example on why it's best to go back to the source material before one embarks on a major story, rather than rely on the often faulty memory of which characters were original canon and which weren't."
• Character Narrator: In the Jungle Cubs Born to be Wild DVD.
• Death Glare: He gives one to Baloo when he notices Baloo's disguise has been removed.
• Driven by Envy: He has Mowgli kidnapped because he thinks the latter knows the secret of fire-making, which Louie believes will make him human.
• Erudite Orangutan: Louie is a smart orangutan who wishes to become more like a human.
• Fun Personified: Even more energetic than Baloo.
• I Just Want to Be You: He sings a musical number "I Wan'na Be Like You" about how much he envies humans.
• Ink-Suit Actor: At least the movements, as the dance of Louie and his apes, is based on Prima with his bandmates.
• Large Ham: At least during "I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)".
• Misplaced Wildlife: The story is set in India, but orangutans live in Indonesia. Possibly justified by being the former pet of a maharajah, as posited by animation critic Paul Astell in his review of the film.
• Nice Mean And In Between: He's the Nice to Shere Khan's Mean and Kaa's In-between. He's the most jovial and outwardly friendly towards Mowgli, offering to let him stay in his kingdom in exchange for the secret of fire.
• Out of Focus: Louis Prima's widow was unhappy with Jim Cummings' unpermitted likeness to her husband in TaleSpin and Jungle Cubs and threatened a lawsuit. As such, Louie was omitted from the sequel and limited to sparse silent cameos elsewhere to appease this. Finally broke out of this in 2013 when he appeared in the Disneyland live show "Mickey and the Magical Map", once again voiced by Cummings, and appears as a playable character in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode.
• Put on a Bus: In the sequel, due to a lawsuit threatened by Louis Prima's widow.
• Soul Brotha: Even though he was voiced by Italian American Louis Prima, he was originally written for another Louie—Louis Armstrong—but they recast him to avoid the racial Stereotype of an African American voicing an ape who wants to be human. Some viewers still find the character offensive even as voiced by Prima, as Louie retains some stereotypical African American attributes like speaking street slang, dancing well, and singing jazz. Since 2019, Disney+ has listed this movie with a content warning for offensive stereotypes, and in 2021 they added an age restriction.
• Tuckerization: He is named after his voice actor, Louis Prima.
• Wedgie: King Louie accidentally gives one to Mowgli after the monkeys drop the latter in the form of grabbing Mowgli’s loincloth and holding him at arm’s length while Mowgli tries to hit him.

Hathi

Coloniel Hathi

Voiced by: J. Pat O'Malley (The Jungle Book), Jim Cummings (The Jungle Book 2), Rob Paulsen (Jungle Cubs), Stephen Furst (Jungle Cubs), Marty Ingels (Mowgli's Story); Jean Martinelli (original movie), Vincent Grass (sequel) (European French dub); Castro Gonzaga (original film, classic dub), Élcio Romar (original film, 2014 redub and sequel) (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

The leader of a herd of Indian elephants, which he runs similarly to a military squadron. Every day from dawn, Hathi has his unwilling herd march all over the jungle. However, his strict orders and constant marching sometimes cause members to consider "putting in for a transfer to another herd." Hathi also has a mate called Winifred and a calf called Hathi, Jr., with both appearing to be part of the army.

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• Adaptational Comic Relief: Hathi in the books is a mighty elephant respected by every animal in the jungle. In the Disney film, he's a pompous, absent-minded military commander.
• Adaptational Wimp: In the original book, he was an aggressive elephant who once destroyed a human village, and is respected by the other animals, even Shere Khan. In the Disney movie he is a pompous and bumbling leader to his troop.
• Badass Boast: The story of Hathi's reception of the Victoria Cross is a lengthy one. And, according to his mate, it's Improbably Predictable.
• Behind Every Great Man: His mate Winifred is far more capable than he is, despite not leading the herd or even being lieutenant.
• Bumbling Dad: Subverted. He is a military leader, but a bit scatter-brained, as he easily forgets his son when leaving the grasslands.
• Colonel Badass: The Disney movie turns him into a former war elephant who runs a wild herd like a military unit.
• Demoted to Extra: Has two scenes in the sequel.
• Disabled in the Adaptation: A minor one, but he lacks tusks in Mowgli's Story.
• Elephants Never Forget: Played with; he claims that as an elephant, he never forgets anything. However, when Junior stays behind to talk to Mowgli while he leads the rest of the herd away, Winifred has to remind him that he forgot Junior. When Hathi goes back to scold Junior, the rest of the herd crashes into him, because, as Junior points out, he forgot to say "Halt!" This amuses Mowgli, but not Bagheera.
• Fantastic Racism: A small, downplayed example is shown when he is utterly unnerved to see Mowgli, a human child, in his ranks. Averted in Mowgli's Story, he helps take care of Mowgli along with the wolves.
• Honorable Elephant: Along with his troops.
• Hypocrite: Boldly upholds the thesis that an elephant never forgets, yet he is the most scatterbrained one among his herd.
• Incoming Ham: "Company, sound off!!!"
• Irony: Claims that Shere Khan is far away from the region in which his troops are marching, yet the tiger is right under his very nose, and attentively listening to him and Bagheera blurting out every little detail about Mowgli's predicament.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Stubborn and pig-headed as he may be, he is a genuinely kind-hearted character who truly loves his mate Winifred and, especially, his little son, Hathi Jr, and with a bit of persuasion from them, he agrees to help Bagheera find Mowgli.
• Large Ham: He really chews the scenery when he gives out orders, or when he is angry, or confronted.
• Mighty Glacier: His herd and he just bulldoze through anything in their path, Shere Khan cannot withstand their collective might - but unlike the huge loudmouthed elephant, Shere Khan is nobody's fool.
• Mildly Military: The theme, "Colonel Hathi's March", is even a parody of military marches.
• No Indoor Voice: When giving out orders to his whole squad aloud. On one occasion, the troops' heads rang from the Colonel's blaring yell (so does Shere Khan's, for that matter).
  COMPANYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!! FORwAAAAAAAAAAARRRRD... MARCH!!!
• Oh, Crap!: In the sequel, he and his herd break into a panicked retreat when they realize that a group of people is in the jungle (unbeknownst to them, they're looking for Mowgli, Shanti and Ranjan).
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Hathi calls his herd a "company" and their migrations "marches/drills", but the "military band" does little else than march around obnoxiously while singing a song that hints they know full well what they're doing is pointless but they're doing it anyway.
  O, the aim of our patrol
  Is a question rather droll,
  For to march and drill over field and hill
  Is a military goal.
  By the ranks or single file
  Over every jungle mile,
  O, we stamp and crush through the underbrush
  In a military style.
  O, we march from here to there
  And it doesn't matter where.
  You can hear us push through the deepest bush
  With a military air.
  We're a crackerjack brigade
  On a pachyderm parade,
  But we'd rather stroll to a waterhole
  For a furlough in the shade.
  • Hathi implies he was a war elephant in the colonial army in the past, but it's unclear to what capacity his recollections are accurate: for all anyone knows, he could very well be mimicking human customs.
• Police Are Useless: His Jungle Patrol are a powerful force to be reckoned with, but woefully ineffectual at subtlety or search and rescue missions, and Shere Khan knows this.
• War Hero: He mentions having received the Victoria Cross while serving in "the Maharajah's Fifth Pachyderm Brigade", though no doubt it was actually awarded to his rider.

Shanti

Shanti

"You and your stories. Everyone knows tigers don't come into the village."

Voiced by: Darleen Carr (The Jungle Book), Mae Whitman (The Jungle Book 2); Lucie Dolène (original dub of the first movie), Claire Guyot (redub of the first movie), Camille Donda (sequel) (European French dub); Sônia Ferreira (original film, classic dub), Flávia Saddy (sequel) (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

Appearances: The Jungle Book (1967) | The Jungle Book 2 | Once Upon a Studio

Shanti starts off as a minor character in the first movie and was the reason behind Mowgli agreeing to stay in the Man Village. She is Mowgli's village best friend and cute, beautiful sweetheart.

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• Ascended Extra: Appears in one scene of the first film, and is one of the main protagonists in the sequel.
• Badass Adorable: Shanti is a very beautiful, cute, sweet, bubbly and compassionate girl both in general and in the original movie and the sequel. And she can also pack a punch!
• Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: She's the only prominent female character in both movies who appears to be very content with her feminine role in the village. Although her clothes cover her midriff in the original movie, in the sequel she switches to a short white short-sleeved choli that exposes her belly, combined with a long violet skirt that covers her belly button.
• Beautiful Singing Voice: She has a lovely singing voice in both the original movie and the sequel, especially in a deleted scene.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Shanti is very beautiful, attractive and cute in both appearance and (mostly) her personality.
• Berserk Button: Don't play pranks on her, or scare her.
• Best Friend: Is this to Mowgli in the sequel both initially and after they became an Official Couple, besides Baloo.
• Big Sister Instinct: To Ranjan, to the point of punching Baloo (a full-grown bear) when she thinks he poses a threat to him.
• Braids of Action: In the sequel, she wears a braided ponytail and throughout the film becomes both a Plucky Girl and Silk Hiding Steel.
• Brainy Brunette: In the sequel, Shanti is this, is very intelligent, shrewd and perceptive in general, and she has long hair. She even demonstrated a mango trick that Mowgli learned and is even aware of her own beauty and how she uses it on him.
• Characterisation Marches On: In the original film she is a pre-teen Fille Fatale. Presumably uncomfortable with the implications of this, the sequel's filmmakers remade her into a combination of this and Dutiful Daughter.
• Contrived Clumsiness: She intentionally spills her water, counting on Mowgli (who was still hiding in the trees) to come out of hiding and fill the container back up for her.
• Damsel in Distress: In the sequel, Shanti gets hypnotized, roared at and is almost tiger chow.
• Deadpan Snarker: She's a bit more snarky in the sequel.
  Shanti: Well, you were so ugly you made my eyes water.
  Shanti: Tiger tracks? Right.
• Disappeared Dad: Her father isn't seen or mentioned in the sequel, although she mentions him in her song in the first film.
• Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: Shanti wears golden hoop earrings both in the original movie and the sequel.
• Eyelash Fluttering: She seduces Mowgli into the village this way. She does this again in the sequel.
• Freak Out: She does this when she first sees Baloo with Mowgli, alerting the Man-Village of a wild animal...
  Shanti: Aaahhh! Help! Wild animal! There's a wild animal in the village! Heeeellllppp!
  • ...and when bats start chasing her in the jungle.
• Generation Xerox: She mentions she's always sent to get the water, and that when she has a daughter, she'll send her to do the same.
• Girlish Pigtails: In the original film. In the sequel she has a braided ponytail.
• Graceful Ladies Like Purple: In the sequel, she wears a white shirt with a long purple/violet skirt.
• Hypno Fool: Her lack of survival skills makes her easy picking for Kaa's hypnosis power.
• Hypnotize the Captive: Shanti is brainwashed by Kaa and is nearly eaten by him before Ranjan arrives.
• Innocent Soprano: She's mostly this, even with her singing and humming.
• Love at First Sight: She invokes the trope in Mowgli, and seems to fall into it herself, considering how she looked up at him all smitten, and how eager she was to bring him back to the village.
• Love Confessor: Her answer to Ranjan's wondering:
  Ranjan: But I thought you liked Mowgli?
  Shanti: Well, I do. I like Mowgli. But I... Ah, oh, oh... ooh.
• Love Interest: To Mowgli, both in the original movie and the sequel.
• Named in the Sequel: She wasn't given a name in the original movie, but is named Shanti in the second film.
• Nice Girl: A sweet and compassionate girl who is shown to be very protective of her loved ones.
• Not So Above It All: Despite her serious and uptight nature, Shanti is shown to love having fun, can't resist doing so and is prone to childish traits.
• Official Couple: With Mowgli by the end of the sequel.
• Only Sane Woman: She acts more like an adult than most of the other kids in the sequel.
• Pink Means Feminine: In the original movie, her dress is dark pink, and she's very much feminine.
• Plucky Girl: Not really by nature, but she forces herself to become one when she thinks Mowgli is in danger. She's deathly afraid of the jungle thanks to all the horror stories the adults have fed her with, and so when she finds herself in the jungle she at first has no clue how to survive there, getting instantly hypnotized by Kaa and only making it out alive thanks to Ranjan... but despite all this, she marches on because Mowgli needs help she's not leaving the jungle without him!
• Prefers Going Barefoot: Like Mowgli, Shanti doesn't wear any shoes. Although it may be due to Barefoot Poverty, having been born in a village in the middle of the Indian jungle.
• Sanity Slippage: Shanti almost has one when she goes into the jungle and encounters various frightening creatures, until she runs away from some bats and takes a breather while looking for Mowgli.
• Satellite Love Interest: She only has the one scene in the original movie, after all. But it's iconic! It's justified, too; not only is escorting Mowgli to a safe human village the goal of the first film, but she's also the first human girl (if not the first other human, period) Mowgli ever saw, so it makes sense he'd fall for her at first sight.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: In the sequel, Shanti, being an actual 12 year old little girl, screams a very high pitched scream many times during the movie, both when Mowgli and Ranjan prank her, when she first sees Baloo with Mowgli and when bats start chasing her in the jungle.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Not really by nature, but Shanti becomes this when she decides to rescue Mowgli from Baloo, whom she thought was a threat. Also shows inner bravery when she and Baloo decide to help Mowgli and distract Shere Khan with loud gongs. Besides, she's always been courageous deep inside but never found the right motivation to nurture her potential until Mowgli entered her life.
• Single-Target Sexuality: She knows Mowgli is the one she wants, and no one else.
• Show Some Leg: Shanti blatantly does this to Mowgli at the end of the first movie (which she attempts to deny in the second). Lampshaded by Baloo and Bagheera.
• The Tease: Is a kid friendly version of this in both the original movie and the sequel to Mowgli, occasionally flirting with him since they met.
• Uptight Loves Wild: Shanti, a sensible, compassionate and civilized village girl, likes Mowgli, a crazy, loving and naïve jungle boy.
• Uptown Girl: Shanti, being a village girl, falls in love with Mowgli, a boy from the jungle.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Shanti is very protective of Mowgli and cares about him and also Ranjan, hence why she punched Baloo in the nose.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Shanti has great fear of the jungle in contrast to Mowgli's obsession of it. She fears nearly every animal the jungle has to offer including snakes, tigers, bears, and bats. She gets over it at the end.

The Vultures

From left to right: Buzzy (the bald one), Dizzy (black bangs that cover his eyes), Ziggy (brown top), Flaps (blond)

Voiced by J. Pat O'Malley (Buzzy), Lord Tim Hudson (Dizzy), Chad Stuart (Flaps), & Digby Wolfe (Ziggy) (original film); Jess Harnell & Jeff Bennett (sequel); Jacques Hilling, Léonce Corne, Maurice Nasil, and Jacques Balutin (original movie) (European French dub); Magalhães Graça (Buzzy, classic dub), Mário Monjardim (Dizzy and Ziggy, classic dub), Waldir Fiori (Flaps, classic dub), Luiz Carlos Persy (Buzzy, 2014 dub), Raul Labancca (Dizzy, 2014 redub) (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

Four vultures who befriend Mowgli toward the end of the film. They appear also in the sequel, this time accompanied by a new member, Lucky.

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• Beware the Silly Ones: While they're initially terrified of Shere Khan, once they realize Mowgli needs help badly and it's down to them, they level up very quickly. Their speed and agility means that Shere Khan can't touch them, and they start rubbing his nose in this right away. They're also a legitimate threat that Shere Khan can't ignore, as hovering around his head means they're going for his eyes. Given so many advantages, along with their ability to easily perch where Shere Khan can't reach them, you have to wonder why they were so afraid of him in the first place...
  Buzzy: Ya, ya! (effortlessly dodges Shere Khan's attack) Missed me a mile, he did! (he and the other vultures laugh) Yeah! Yeah, pull his blinking whiskers! (he and the other vultures double up in laughter as Flaps pulls Shere Khan's whiskers)
  Flaps: Yeah, he's a blooming pussycat, he is!
  Dizzy: (after Mowgli ties a burning branch to Shere Khan's tail) Look behind you, chum.
• Canon Foreigner: The vultures aren't present in the book; the most prominent bird character is Chil the Kite.
• Composite Character: Chil makes an appearance in Mowgli's Story as a Adaptation Species Change and given a Gender Flip.
• Character Catchphrase:
  Buzzie: What we gonna do?
  Flaps: I don't know, what you wanna do?
• Circling Vultures: Averted. While they do show interest when a lonely, depressed and vulnerable Mowgli shows up in their territory, it's more to sate their boredom than their hunger. Aside from a few laughs at his expense, they're otherwise very friendly.
• Cowardly Lion: The vultures are terrified of Shere Khan, but that doesn't stop them from directly attacking him when he goes after Mowgli and Baloo. Sort of Truth in Television, as scavengers like vultures tend to steer clear of larger, stronger carnivores.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Despite being a bunch of gloomy vultures, they are a fairly friendly bunch and even briefly take on Shere Khan to protect Mowgli.
• Deadpan Snarker: Dizzy speaks in a very deadpan voice.
• Eyes Out of Sight: Dizzy has gray (almost black) "hair" that covers his eyes.
• Nice Guys: They sympathize with sad and alone Mowgli and then sing a Friendship Song to cheer him up.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed:
  • They are patterned after The Beatles. Oddly, while they do have a musical number, it's a barbershop quartet song as opposed to something sounding similar to the Beatles' rock tunes.
  • The aforementioned barbershop number is the primary reason why The Beatles passed on it. For one thing, they were not really a harmony group (consisting of three tenors and a baritone that rarely sang) and for another, John Lennon hated the idea of working for Disney.
• Non-Mammalian Hair: Ziggy, Dizzy, and Flaps each have hair on their head, even though vultures are birds and normally have bald heads.
• No Sense of Humour: Dizzy.
  Ziggy: Let's flap over the east side of the jungle. They've always got some action there, a bit of a swingin' scene, alright?
  Buzzie: Ah, come off it! Things are right dead all over.
  Ziggy: You mean you wish they were.
  (vultures laugh)
  Dizzy: Very funny.
• Scavengers Are Scum: Averted. Usually (especially in Disney movies) scavengers like vultures are depicted as Always Chaotic Evil, but these ones are depicted as friendly and helpful.
• True Companions: They have a musical number about it.
• Unexplained Accent: The vultures have Liverpudlian accents and use British slang terms. It's a nod to them being designed after The Beatles, but there's no In-Universe explanation for it.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The Friendship Song they sing to cheer Mowgli up also ends up attracting Shere Khan's attention.

Lucky

Voiced by: Phil Collins; Emmanuel Jacomy (European French dub); Mário Monjardim (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

A vulture who only appears in the sequel.

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• Brass Balls: Though his roasting of Shere Khan does venture into Too Dumb to Live territory, the fact he actively does it shows some balls.
• Bullying a Dragon: In the sequel Lucky gets the brilliant idea of openly mocking Shere Khan to his face. Once he tells Shere Khan where Mowgli is headed just to taunt him... Lucky didn't live up to his name shortly afterwards.
• Disney Death: He is attacked and apparently killed by Shere Khan, but near the end of the film it's revealed that he's still alive.
• Ironic Name: Shere Khan tells him "Isn't it ironic that your name is Lucky?" before attacking him. Although it's averted in the end.
• Made of Iron: His survival after an enraged Shere Khan attacks him makes him the king of this trope.
• Sixth Ranger: He joins the other vultures in the sequel.
• Too Dumb to Live: He is a brainless Troll who spends the majority of his role taunting Shere Khan over his defeat at the hands of Mowgli as up close as possible inadvertently giving him directions to the mancub's location in the process (before falling victim to a rather nasty beating).

Akela

"He is our brother in all but blood, and you would kill him. Indeed... I have lived too long."
Voiced by: John Abbott (The Jungle Book); Rob Paulsen (Jungle Cubs); Clancy Brown (Mowgli's Story); Giancarlo Esposito (live-action remake); Henry Djanik (original film) (European French dub)

The leader of the Seeonee wolf pack.

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• Big Good: In the book.
• A Day in the Limelight: To compensate for his minor role in the film, he gets a prominent appearance in an episode of Jungle Cubs.
• Demoted to Extra: In the Disney movie, along with the rest of the wolf pack. In the sequel, he's absent altogether.
• The Mentor: In the book, he's by far Mowgli's oldest and wisest ally (apart from Bagheera). While we don't see much of it in the Disney film, it's implied with his characterisation.
• Noble Wolf: A Big Good wolf.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He understands Rama's reluctance to let go of Mowgli, but is quick to remind him that even the combined efforts of the whole pack wouldn't keep Shere Khan at bay.

Rama

Voiced by: Ben Wright; Jacques Degor (European French dub); Telmo Perle Munch (classic dub) (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

Raksha's mate and Mowgli's former adoptive father in the jungle.

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• Adaptational Name Change: In the book, his character's name was originally Father Wolf; Rama was the name of a tame water buffalo who helped Mowgli kill Shere Khan.
• Demoted to Extra: He appears in the beginning of the film as he and Raksha raise Mowgli and their wolf cubs, only to disappear when Mowgli is forced to leave the jungle to avoid Shere Khan's wrath. He doesn't even appear in the sequel.
• Papa Wolf: A literal example; when a meeting is held to determine Mowgli's future, and the pack elders decide to send Mowgli away, Rama speaks up, saying that Mowgli is entitled to the pack's protection because they have raised him as though he were their own son, showing that he deeply cares for Mowgli's safety.
• Noble Wolf: A very nice wolf who's willing to oblige to his mate's wish on raising a baby human alongside their pups.
• Parental Substitute: He and Raksha raised Mowgli alongside their own pups ever since Mowgli was an infant.

Raksha

Rama's mate and Mowgli's former adoptive mother in the jungle.

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• Demoted to Extra: She appears in the beginning of the film as she and Rama raise Mowgli and their wolf cubs, only to disappear when Mowgli is forced to leave the jungle to avoid Shere Khan's wrath. She doesn't even appear in the sequel.
• Mama Bear: Tends to care for her wolf cubs; even those tendencies were enough to convince her to take Mowgli into their care until he is ready to leave the jungle.
• Noble Wolf: A very nice wolf whose maternal tendencies drove her to take a baby Mowgli under her paws.
• Parental Substitute: She and Rama raised Mowgli alongside their own pups ever since Mowgli was an infant.

Ranjan

Voiced by: Connor Funk; Gwenaël Sommier (European French dub); Thiago Farias (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

Mowgli's adoptive brother from the Man Village, also the son of Messua and the Village Leader. He appears only in the sequel, joining Shanti when she ventures out in the jungle to look for Mowgli.

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• Annoying Younger Sibling: Curiously enough, even though he is Mowgli's adopted brother, he plays this role more to Shanti than to Mowgli. Mowgli never seems to find him tiresome, but Shanti sometimes gets enough of his antics, and has a number of Big Sister Instinct moments towards him. Justified, in that Shanti would have known him for longer, having grown up in the same village.
• Big Brother Worship: He greatly admires Mowgli.
• Big Damn Heroes: He does manage to save Shanti from being eaten by Kaa.
• Blue Is Heroic: He wears a blue loincloth.
• Bratty Half-Pint: In a different way than Mowgli was in the original movie. Where Mowgli would sulk and argue when told things he didn't want to hear, Ranjan just ignores well-meant advice and charges ahead with great enthusiasm.
• Canon Foreigner: He has no equivalent in the original book.
• Fearless Fool: Though he does have just enough sense to realize that charging Shere Khan would be a bad idea.
• Irony: The only thing he's afraid of (initially) is Baloo, a harmless bear.
• Keet: He's certainly an energetic little guy.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: He only wears a blue loincloth.
• Wedgie: Ranjan becomes a victim of this in the second film.
  • After Shanti tells him to stay and runs after Mowgli and Shere Khan, Ranjan begins to follow her only for his loincloth to get stuck on a branch and fling him backwards into Baloo

Messua

Voiced by: Veena Bidasha

Mowgli's current adoptive mother from the Man Village. She appears only in the sequel, known as the Village Leader's wife and Ranjan's mother.

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• Beauty Equals Goodness: For a woman in her age, Messua is very beautiful, attractive and cute in both appearance and (mostly) her personality.
• Deadpan Snarker: Her question confirms it:
  Messua: Boys! Where are you going so early?
• Demoted to Extra: In the books, Messua plays a major role as she willingly took in Mowgli after his entrance to the Man Village; even attempting to defend him from the villagers who accused him of witchcraft. In the film, she plays a minor role, even though she did help the village leader in searching for the kids in the jungle.
• Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: She wears round purple earrings.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: She is the 'hot wife' to the village leader.
• Mama Bear: Doesn't take very kindly after hearing that her sons are lost in the jungle alongside Shanti; even participating in her husband's search party to locate the children.
• Nice Girl: She's a sweet, kind and compassionate mother and wife.
• Parents Know Their Children: She has a bit on an insight on what the children are up to: this was shown when Mowgli and Ranjan tried to sneak out while she's cooking, she sarcastically asks where they're going. When Mowgli claims that they're going to do their chores, she has this to say:
  Messua: Not without breakfast you aren't.
• Parental Substitute: She and the village leader adopted Mowgli in hopes to have him become a new member of the Man Village.
• True Blue Femininity: She wears blue throughout the sequel.

Village Leader

Voiced by: John Rhys-Davies

Mowgli's current adoptive father who is the ruler of the Man Village. He appears only in the sequel, known serving as Messua's husband and Ranjan's father.

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• Adaptational Heroism: In the books, Mowgli's adoptive father was ungrateful towards Mowgli for saving both his and Messua's lives as they lost much of their belongings in the village. Here, the village leader is given Papa Wolf tendencies as he's doing his best to raise Mowgli to become a valued community member. He even gets the villagers to participate in his search to find Mowgli, Shanti and Ranjan when they were lost in the jungle.
• Denied Food as Punishment: He punishes Mowgli that way when the latter nearly leads the village children into the jungle. Shanti felt bad for inadvertently getting Mowgli into trouble and tries to sneak him some fruit that night.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: He is the 'ugly guy' to the Messua.
• Papa Wolf: Upon learning that Shere Khan is in the village, the Village Leader calls in several of his men to grab their torches and pitchforks to drive the tiger away from the village. Also, upon finding out that Mowgli, Shanti and Ranjan are lost in the jungle, he tries to call out to them; even getting several of the villagers to form a search party in the jungle.
• Parental Substitute: He and the Messua adopted Mowgli in hopes to have him become a new member of the Man Village.
• Properly Paranoid: Upon berating Mowgli for trying to lead several children to the jungle, he revealed that he almost suffered a tiger attack (presumably Shere Khan) that permanently scarred his left arm. Even though his fear of the jungle was a bit overdrawn, his personal experience was justified on the matter.
• Was Too Hard on Him: Feels that his punishment towards Mowgli is what drove the latter to run away into the jungle.

Shanti's Mother

Voiced by: Deviah Parikh

Shanti's mother who is the member of the Man Village. She in mentioned once in the original film, but later appears in the sequel, having been a close friend of Messua and the Village Leader.

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• Beauty Equals Goodness: Similar to her daughter, she is very beautiful, attractive and cute in both appearance and (mostly) her personality.
• Canon Foreigner: She has no equivalent in the original book.
• Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: Just like her daughter, she wears golden hoop earrings.
• Graceful Ladies Like Purple: She wears purple throughout the sequel.
• Mama Bear: Doesn't take very kindly after hearing that her daughter is lost in the jungle alongside Mowgli and Ranjan; even participating in the village leader's search party to locate the children.
• Ms. Fanservice: She is a very beautiful, pretty and cute village mother, as beautiful as her daughter.
• Nice Girl: She's a sweet, kind and compassionate mother.
• Parents as People: Has been raising Shanti on work ethics to ensure that she is valued as a good member of the village; even Shanti tried to assure to a grounded Mowgli that she gets punished by her mother several times, implying that her mother may be a disciplinarian.

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