Characters / The Nut Job

Spoiler Warning

Surly

Voiced by: Will Arnett (adult), Justin Felbinger (Child)

• Anti-Hero: He starts out being a jerk to everyone, including some random birds. He even acknowledges that he isn't a hero at all.
• At Least I Admit It: "Raccoon's a bigger thief than I am!"
• Character Development: Goes from completely selfish to totally selfless over the course of the movie.
• Heroic Sacrifice: When Surly is being weighed down by Raccoon as the gang strain to hold him fast, he deliberately lets go to save them.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Buddy.
• Hidden Depths: Despite his general initial Jerkassness, after he is banished and Buddy attempts to follow him, Surly repeatedly tries to chase him off for his own safety, since the city is dangerous and so Buddy won't be banished too.
• Ineffectual Loner: Initially does things only for himself, and is only even slightly helpful to Buddy, sometimes forsaking him as well.
• Jerkass: At least at first.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Meaningful Name: The word surly means "rude and unfriendly", or "menacing or threatening in appearance." Subverted towards the end of the movie.
• Real Men Hate Affection: Hits or pushes Buddy off of him when Buddy hugs him. Subverted later when Surly hugs Buddy instead.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: A bit of this dynamic with Buddy.
• Stealth Pun: "Purple Squirrel" is a term used to refer to a job candidate with exactly the right experience and qualifications for a complex job's requirements.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Seems to feel this way about the Team because of their blind faith in Raccoon.
• Tempting Fate: In a trailer for a sequel, he describes a situation as it not being like the nut shop will blow up. Cue the explosion.

Buddy

Voiced by: Robert Tinkler (first movie), Tom Kenny (second movie)

• Big Damn Heroes: When Surly is about to be possibly killed and/or eaten by the Rat Gang, Buddy shows up and saves him.
• Cute Mute
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Surly.
• Nice Guy: He might be one of the very few characters in this movie without a mean bone in his body.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Sensitive Guy to Surly's Manly Man.
• Suddenly Voiced: Says "Best friend" when Surly seemingly dies.
• The Voiceless: Until Surly's Disney Death.
• Undying Loyalty: To Surly, despite Surly's general treatment of him.

Andie

Voiced by: Katherine Heigl

• Action Girl: Probably the second most competent character after Surly.
• Gender-Blender Name: Her name is more commonly used as a boys name.
• Leonine Contract: Unknowingly forces Surly into one.
• Only Sane Woman:
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: She is a main character with bright reddish-orange fur and green eyes, which makes her stand out from most of the other squirrels.
• Women Are Wiser: Pretty much the only competent resident of the park besides Raccoon, sans Jamie, who is also a female.

Grayson

Voiced by: Brendan Fraser

• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Following his implied head injury.
• Concussions Get You High: His incredibly loopy behavior after the initial caper is implied to be because of a head injury.
• Dumbass Has a Point: When Jamie angrily questions Raccoon as to why he locked them in the truck, he stalls, and then responds by stating that everything is Surly's fault and they need to kill him for the good of the park. Grayson declares that Raccoon has not answered the question.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Has a male mouse named Redline who is a little too enthusiastic about him, even fainting when Grayson does something manly and heroic.
• Idiot Hero: He's a dunce.
• Large Ham: Arrogant and frequently proclaims that he is a hero.
• Meaningful Name: Grayson means "gray-haired." He is a gray squirrel.
• Nice Guy: Despite his general spotlight-hogging haminess, he's one of the only characters who are actually nice to Surly.
• Reactive Continuous Scream: Pulls a Stealth Hi on Surly; Surly screams, Grayson screams back louder.
• Security Cling: Jumps onto an annoyed Surly because he mistakes Buddy for one of the Gang Rats that he is apparently now terrified of.
• Sequel Non-Entity: Oddly enough, he is nowhere to be seen, heard, or mentioned in the sequel. The park animals are even shown treating Surly as the hero of the park instead of Grayson despite how the first movie ended.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Frequently scares Surly this way.
  Surly: Will you stop doing that?!
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Is terrified of all rats following his run in with the Rat Gang, even Buddy.

Raccoon

Voiced by: Liam Neeson

• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: In some scenes, he is shown to be attracted to shiny objects.
• Big Bad: Is partly responsible for the park animals' starvation by keeping food from them.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Acts benevolent while secretly treacherous and controlling.
• Disney Villain Death: Subverted. Both Surly and Raccoon fall off a waterfall in the climax, but both of them survive. Surly has a Disney Death while Raccoon drifts from the river into the sea and is left stranded on a life buoy.
• A Dog Named "Dog": A Raccoon named Raccoon.
• Evil Brit: Has a British accent and is partly responsible for the park animals' starvation.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The Cardinal. He seems pretty upset when the Cardinal is apparently killed by a group of cats.
• Ink-Suit Actor: He does look a little bit like Liam Neeson, particularly in the eyes.
• Manipulative Bastard: Keeps control over the other animals by controlling the food supply and convinces everyone that all his misdeeds are Surly's fault.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: The Stinger reveals that Raccoon survived his fall over the waterfall, and has drifted out to sea on a life buoy. The Cardinal flies out to sit with him. Raccoon responds with a snarky comment. The Cardinal takes offense and prepares to leave, to which Raccoon quickly backtracks and says, "Please stay."
• Rascally Raccoon: He is a raccoon who is secretly keeping the food away from the park animals to maintain his control.
• Taking You with Me: Attempts this on Surly during the climax. Subverted as they both survive.
• Villainous Breakdown: When the animals banished him, he doesn't take it very well. In fact, he's so angry that he throws Surly out.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He fully intends to kill Andie (for not following orders), Grayson (for knowing about the food supply, and Surly; Surly tries to convince him to leave the others alone.

The Cardinal

Voiced by: N/A

• Expy: He looks somewhat like an Angry Bird.
• Made of Iron: Survives getting chomped by a dog, getting hit by a truck, and getting mauled by cats.
• Mirror Character: To Buddy. Both Buddy and the cardinal are loyal, silent, and are the only friends of Surly and Raccoon respectively.
• No Name Given: does not have a name.
• Right-Hand Cat: He is mostly seen resting on Raccoon’s arm.
• The Stoic: Rarely shows any emotion.
• The Voiceless: Never says a word, though he does chirp once.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: In the mid-credits scene of the first movie, he is seen flying over to Raccoon to keep him company when he is stuck in the ocean on a life buoy that is surrounded by sharks. In the second movie’s post-credits scene, Raccoon is seen by himself without the Cardinal.

Jamie

Voiced by: Annick Obonsawin (first movie), Kari Wahlgren (second movie)

• Big Sister Instinct: Jamie has this for her musclehead brothers Jimmy and Johnny, even though she subverts the trope somewhat by actually being the smallest of the Bruiser siblings.
• Brooklyn Rage: Jamie has a very distinct Brooklyn accent and can have a bit of a temper.
• Shorter Means Smarter: She is not as dumb as her two brothers.
• Tom Boy: Could be mistaken for a boy if her brothers hadn't referred to her as "Sis."
• What the Hell, Hero?: She calls out Surly for treating his only friend Buddy like crap.

Mole

Voiced by: Jeff Dunham

• A Dog Named "Dog": Guess what kind of animal Mole is?
• Running Gag: His bad eyesight. His eyes are very sensitive to light and can barely see anything.
• Token Minority: The only mole in the park animal community.