Characters / Time Bandits

Kevin's family

Kevin Lotterby

Played by: Craig Warnock

The main character. A 10 year old boy who's interested in history.

• Ascended Fanboy: He always loved history; now he gets to see history in the making.
• I Choose to Stay: He's offered the opportunity to remain in Greece as the king's adopted son, but the Bandits drag him away. Considering what we know will eventually happen to Agammemnon, it's just as well...

Trevor and Diane Lotterby

Played by: David Daker and Sheila Fearn

A couple who only care about how good their kitchen is and gossip about how someone they know has the latest technology.

• Adults Are Useless: They represent the banal, materialistic existence that Evil wants to promote.
• Asshole Victim: They don't care about Kevin at all. They deserved to get blown up.
• Death by Materialism: They are more concerned with their appliances than their son, which ultimately causes their death as well.
  Diane: Honestly, Trevor, if you were half a man you would've gone in there after the blender.
• Jerkass
• Parental Neglect: They don't care about Kevin at all. When the house is on fire, his mother is more concerned with running back inside to get the toaster than making sure he's alright.
• Too Dumb to Live: Kevin told them not to touch the thing. They respond by immediately touching the thing.

The Time Bandits

A gang of dwarfs that come from Heaven and helped God create the Universe. But they decided that robbing people over time was more fun.

• Anti-Hero
• Deadpan Snarker: They all do this at some point or another.
• Disabled Deity: More like renegade angels than full-fledged deities, but they all have dwarfism.
• Genre Blind: They don't recognize Robin Hood and don't appear to realize that the Titanic is going to hit an iceberg.
  Randall: How was I to know we were gonna run right into an iceberg? It didn't say 'Get off before the iceberg' on the ticket!
• Gold Fever: Their primary motivation.
• Manchild: They all behave more like spoiled, bratty children rather than the ancient, immortal beings that they are. This was, in fact, the reason that Terry Gilliam cast small people as the Bandits: so that audiences would accept a child as their equal.
• Only in It for the Money: They're traveling through time for no reason other than to steal. Kevin is offended.
• Really 700 Years Old: Being formerly employed by God, they're all thousands of years old.
• Time-Traveling Jerkass: Naturally, given a map to the universe and faulty moral compasses to go with it.
• Unwitting Pawn: They hand-deliver the map to the Evil Genius in their quest for "The Most Fabulous Object in the World." Meanwhile, Supreme Being also intended for them to steal the map the whole time to he could test his creation, evil.
• With Friends Like These...: The other Bandits don't like Randall too much. Can you blame them?

Randall

Played by: David Rappaport

The leader of the gang.

• Be Careful What You Wish For: On the Titanic, he asks the waiter for more ice... seconds before it crashes into an iceberg.
• It's All About Me: Put himself in charge of the group after they previously agreed to be democratic.
  Randall: Look, do you want to be leader of this gang?
  Strutter: No! We agreed: No leader.
  Randall: Right. So shut up and do what I say.
• Goggles Do Nothing: His flight helmet includes a set of goggles that are always pushed up to his forehead, unused. His headgear is purely ornamental, as is all of the Bandits'.
• Jerkass
• The Leader: The headstrong type.
• The Napoleon
• What the Hell, Hero?: Kevin is not happy about being dragged away from Mycenae. While history/mythology indicates that Randall may have ultimately saved Kevin in the long run, Randall doesn't exactly help his case.
  Kevin: The money wasn't important to him.
  Randall: He didn't have anything to spend it on, did he? Stuck out in Greece. Lowest standard of living in Europe.

Wally

Played by: Jack Purvis

The brawn of the gang.

• Heroic BSoD: He has one after Fidget's death and shifts into Berserker Tears as he tries to kill Evil bare-handed.

Strutter

Played by: Malcolm Dixon

The brains of the gang.

Fidget

Played by: Kenny Baker

The nice one.

• Back from the Dead: He is killed by accident in the battle with the Evil Genius, but is brought back to life.
• Beware the Nice Ones: When the Time Bandits get led through Robin Hood's men's spitting contest, he's the only one with the nerve to spit back at them. He doesn't miss either!
• Desperate Plea for Home: Fidget is known for being a bit on the anxious side and just as dubious of Randall's leadership as the rest of the bandits. As such, when they all end up stranded in the middle of the Atlantic following the sinking of the Titanic with no hope of rescue, he makes his displeasure known immediately.
  I WANNA GO HOME! YOU'LL GET US ALL KILLED, RANDALL!
• The Lancer
• Nice Guy: Tries to protect Kevin on various occasions, and asks the Supreme Being to reward him at the end.

Og

Played by: Mike Edmunds

The stupid one.

• Animorphism: Evil turns him into a pig.

• Forced Transformation: He gets hit by a spell that turns his head into a pig's head. He later gets turned into a pig entirely.
• Mind-Control Device: The Evil Genius uses him to lure the Bandits to the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness so that Evil can have the map to take over the world.

Vermin

Played by: Tiny Ross

The hungry one.

Randall: Vermin! Would you stop eating?

• Extreme Omnivore: So much so that Randall threatens to feed Kevin to him.
  Wally: Vermin, that is NOT meant to be eaten.
  Vermin: You never know until you've eaten it.

The Villains

Evil

Played by: David Warner

Also known as the Evil Genius, he is the main villain who wants to take over the Universe and understand modern technology.

• A God Am I: Mind you, as a Satanic Archetype and the embodiment of Evil, he is extremely powerful, but he still is so far behind his creator the Supreme Being that said Supreme Being turns him into a statue by his mere presence. Yet he still boasts about being way more powerful than the Supreme Being, calling himself "all-powerful" and claiming to have existed before the Supreme Being (see Badass Boast).
• All There in the Script: A kind of schizophrenic example. The script and the credits refer to him as "the Evil Genius". However, throughout the film, he is referred to (and refers to himself) as simply "Evil".
• Artificial Human: He appears human, but seems to be more machine than organism. His fingertips are on hinges that he can bend back to expose nozzles that fire magic. In the final battle he turns himself into an evil merry-go-round.
• Badass Boast: "I… am Evil! Evil existed long before good. I made myself. I cannot be unmade. I am all-powerful!"
• Bad Boss: He kills one of his minions all just for asking him why can't he leave the fortress. In fact, he winds up killing all of his minions.
• Berserk Button: Never say that the Supreme Being created him, unless you want to get blown up.

• Evil Overlord: Who else would it be?
• Faux Affably Evil: He apologizes to someone after accidentally zapping him.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: His way of dispatching all of the reinforcements the bandits summon.
• Kick the Dog: Being Evil, he does this a lot. Including one literal example where he blows up his minion Benson (in dog form) with a Death Ray.
• Large Ham: Throughout the film, and most of all during the aforementioned Badass Boast
• Laughably Evil: In the climax, he fights the heroes in the funniest ways, like turning himself into a carnival prop and turning into a pin cushion. However, that does not make him any less threatening or effective.
• Made of Evil: The physical embodiment of it. Even after his death, his coal-like remains are said to still be "concentrated evil" that blast the Lotterby parents out of existence as soon as they touch it.
• Offing the Annoyance: He does this twice. The second time more out of reflex than actual annoyance.
  Evil: What sort of Supreme Being created such riff-raff? Is it not the workings of a complete incompetent?
  Minion 1: But He created you, Evil One.
  Evil: What did you say?
  Minion 1: Well, He created you, so He can't be totally...
  Evil: [blasts Mook 1 out of existence] Never talk to me like that again! No one created me! I am Evil! Evil existed long before Good. I made myself. I cannot be unmade. I am all-powerful!
  Minion 2: But why, if that's the case, [Other minions edge away from him] are you unable to escape from this fortress?
  Evil: [blasts Mook 2 out of existence] That's a good question.
• Power Echoes: His echo is very pronounced, even by this trope's standards.
• Psychic Powers: He is able to take control of Randall's tank and Wally's spacecraft with his mind in the climax.
  Randall: I can't control it!
  Evil: Of course you can't, you silly little man! I control them!
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Really, his entire face, when he's about to do something really horrific. He never gets to do whatever it was he intended to do: twice.
• Satanic Archetype: Where to begin? He is Evil incarnate, was created by the Supreme Being but pretends to be his equal, is sealed in a fortress, seeks to overthrow the Supreme Being, tries to trick Kevin into a deal...
• Sealed Evil in a Can: He can't leave the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Evil is surrounded by incompetent henchmen. At one point, he says to one of them who's just said something particularly idiotic, "Oh, my dear Benson, you are so mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence." This is likely his own doing, however, as both of the Mooks who dare to raise serious questions about Evil's plan are blown to smithereens.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: He turns himself into a pin cushion in the climax to resist the arrows shot at him by the Greek Soldiers.

Benson

Played by: Jerold Wells

One of Evil's stupid minions.

• Animorphism: Evil turns him into a sheepdog. He's as stupid a dog as he was a human.
• The Ditz
• Too Kinky to Torture: Relishes the thought of being transformed by Evil.

Robert

Played by: Derek Deadman

Another stupid minion.

• The Ditz
• Horned Humanoid

Horseflesh

Played by: Marcus Powell

A former member of the Time Bandits who betrayed them.

• Demoted to Extra: He had a big role in the script, but his lines were removed and he's just more of a background character.
• Fallen Angel: Although Evil is the most obvious Satanic Archetype in the film, it is Horseflesh who was an angel and revolted. Though technically all the Time Bandits kinda revolted, but you get the idea.
• Posthumous Character: An ambiguous example. Randall claims he's dead.
• Sixth Ranger Traitor: To the Time Bandits.
• The Voiceless: He has no lines. Although in the original script, he did.

The Middle Ages

Robin Hood

Played by: John Cleese

• Nice Guy: He seems to be nice to the Time Bandits until they leave.
  "Thank you very much. Thank you very, very, very much! (beat) Awful people."
• Upper-Class Twit

Vincent

Played by: Michael Palin

• Butt-Monkey: Mostly courtesy of his unspecified "problem."
• Noodle Incident: More like "Noodle Disorder": Vincent's exact affliction is never stated or even implied to be any known ailment. All that is known is that some kind of "special" device is needed for the afflicted to function in society and that it causes a severe craving for fruit.

Pansy

Played by: Shelley Duvall

• Butt-Monkey

Robin Hood's "Merry Men"

They're just as nasty as Randall and they give money to the poor alright, but not without punching them in the face out of pure sadism. Their leader Robin Hood is way too oblivious and delusional to notice.

• Gender Flip: Marian is a man.
• Jerkass
• The Unintelligible: Redgrave speaks only in gibberish, which is translated by Marian.

Ancient Greece

King Agamemnon

Played by: Sean Connery

The king of Mycenae.

• Adaptational Heroism: Originally a morally-grey figure, usually resulting in his better aspects being thrown out in various adaptations of the Iliad/Trojan War, here he's portrayed as a noble hero. It helps that he's played by Sean Connery.
• Cool Old Guy: He's a far better parent than Kevin's parents ever were.
• Deadpan Snarker
  "Well, you certainly are a chatty little fellow."
• Historical Hero Upgrade: Downplayed. While in the original mythology he was a morally grey but still ultimately good figure, he is a wise ruler and a one of the nicest characters in the film.
• Nice Guy: He seems to be a brave and wise ruler who adopts Kevin and becomes his first real father figure, albeit briefly.
• Only Sane Man
• Parental Substitute: He takes a paternal liking to Kevin and adopts him.
• The Reveal: See below.

The Queen

Played by: Juliette James

Agamemnon's wife^note We have no indication if it's Cassandra or Klymnestra. They have a complex relationship.

• Death Glare: Exchanges one with her husband. Considering that he has appointed Kevin his heir (though their own children do not feature here), this is perhaps not surprising.
• The Voiceless: She has no dialogue at all.

Bull Headed Warrior

Played by: Winston Dennis

• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Is that a mask, or is that his actual head?
• Off with His Head!: Agamemnon rips it off after he kills him.
• Our Minotaurs Are Different

Italy

Napoleon

Played by: Ian Holm

French conqueror who only likes short people.

"That's what I like: Little things hitting each other."

• Hair-Trigger Temper
• Manchild: The French have conquered Italy, but he's more interested in watching a puppet show.
• The Napoleon: But of course.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed

The Time of Legends

Winston The Ogre

Played by: Peter Vaughan

• Affably Evil: He's adorable, but he does want to eat Kevin and the bandits.

Mrs Ogre

Played by: Katherine Helmond

• Affably Evil: Like her husband.
• Happily Married: She clearly adores him.

The Giant

Played by: Ian Muir

• Power Tattoo: He has them all over his body.

Other Characters

Mr. Compere

Played by: Jim Broadbent

The host of "Your Money Or Your Life", a popular game show that Kevin and his family watch on television.

• Deadpan Snarker: To his contestants.
• Large Ham

The Supreme Being

Played by: Ralph Richardson

God himself, whom the Bandits stole the map from.

"Return what you have stolen from me! Return the map! It'll bring you great danger! Stop now!"

• Absent-Minded Professor: His true form.
• Benevolent Boss: He thinks of himself as one. He says he ought to kill the dwarfs in the most horrible way possible, but instead will demote them, with a pay cut backdating to the beginning of time.
  Supreme Being: I should do something very extroverted and vengeful to you. Honestly, I'm too tired. So, I think I'll transfer you to the undergrowth department, brackens, more shrubs, that sort of thing... with a 19% cut in salary, backdated to the beginning of time.
  Randall: Oh, thank you, sir.
  Supreme Being: Yes, well, I am the nice one.
• Deus ex Machina: A literal one at the end.

• God Is Inept: It's implied he's not entirely sure what he's doing. When Kevin tries to ask some perfectly-reasonable questions, he gets blustery and sidesteps the issue.
• Godly Sidestep: His explanation for the existence of evil is only partial: it has something to do with free will.
• Good Is Not Nice: He presents himself as either a menacing face in the heavens or a somewhat stern old man. Kevin is rather horrified to learn that He arranged a lot of death and suffering just to test his creation and doesn't seem at all concerned about it. His first act once the bandits surrender is to order them to clean up the mess and punish them with a salary cut even though he claims that all of their actions were part of his plan.
• Good Is Old-Fashioned: He's an old-fashioned British gentleman, while the Evil Genius wants to reform the world around lasers and technology.
• Jerkass Gods: He has little or no regard for human life.
• The Powers That Be

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