Tremors | Tremors 2: Aftershocks | Tremors 3: Back to Perfection | Tremors 4: The Legend Begins | Tremors 5: Bloodlines | Tremors 6: A Cold Day in Hell
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Travis B. Welker
Played By: Jamie Kennedy
A strange Florida native who tracks Burt Gummer down in the desert, proclaiming his status as a fan and taking over as the camera-man for Burt's wilderness survival web show. Burt is initially reluctant to accept his presence but grows to tolerate him.- Artistic License – Gun Safety: As per the norm in this franchise, averted. The obvious example of this is when he presents Burt with a semi-automatic rifle. As he holds the gun up, his finger is clearly not on the trigger.
- Ascended Fanboy: In-universe example. He tells Burt he's a huge fan. There's more to it than that, of course.
- Badass Biker: Travis is exceptional when on motorcycle.
- Badass Family: It turns out that, while he may not have Burt's... quirks... he more than inherited Burt's toughness, courage and ability to handle himself in a fight.
- Did Not Get the Girl: He develops an attraction to Dr. Nandi Montabu soon after meeting her, but she decides she prefers Baruti instead. Subverted in "A Cold Day in Hell" where Dr. Rita Sims eventually warms up to his charms after seeing how much he cares for his father.
- Gun Nut: He inherited his interest in guns from Burt.
- Has a Type: Given his interest in Nandi in the fifth film and Rita in the sixth, Travis may have a thing for attractive, intelligent women.
- Heroic Bastard: He's revealed to be Burt's illegitimate son.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's annoying and obnoxious but has a good heart.
- Like Father, Like Son: Like Burt, Travis is a Gun Nut, has a strong will, and is willing to do what is needed to get the job done.
- Luke, You Are My Father: Reveals himself to be Burt's illegitimate child from a one-night stand he had at a gun show in Florida some 40 years ago.
- Mellow Fellow: Travis is laid-back and goofy.
- Mysterious Middle Initial: The "B" part of his middle name has not been revealed.
- Nom de Mom: Justified. Travis has his mother's name because she and his father weren't married at the time of his conception.
- Put on a Bus: In Tremors 7: Shrieker Island, it's mentioned he's unavailable due to currently spending a stint in a Mexican prison for doing peyote.
- Took a Level in Badass: When Burt's incapacitated in the sixth film, it's Travis who takes charge, devising and perfectly executing the plan that captures a graboid for anti-venom to use against the disease that's killing Burt.
Dr. Nandi Montabu
- Played By: Pearl Thus
- Badass Bookworm: Let's face it, would you expect a vet to carry and implicitly know how to use a machine gun? Or be capable of killing an Ass-blaster with a bow and arrow?
- Mama Bear: She slaughters an Ass-blaster and two Graboids to protect her daughter.
Amahle Montabu
- Played by: Nolitha Zulu
- Improbable Infant Survival: She's put in danger repeatedly, but survives the film.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She's got a Graboid egg in her backpack, which is one of the reasons that the Graboids and Ass-blasters attack the camp.
Dr. Michael Swan
- Played By: Emmanuel Castis
- Black Gal on White Guy Drama: Averted. His and Lucia's relationship is treated matter of factly and as completely natural. Making it all the more a shame what happens to them.
- Irony: In his last scene, he's talking about how much he wants to stay in the bush with Lucia, and doesn't want to go home. Guess what? He gets his wish...
- Sex Signals Death: He has clearly implied off-screen sex with Lucia, and then the two of them are attacked by a Graboid and killed.
Riley
One of Van Wyck's agents, he operates as a bush guide for tourists.
Erich Van Wyck
- Played by: Daniel Janks
- Death by Irony: He gets Eaten Alive by the African Graboid.
- Evil Poacher: You guessed it, this is what he really is.
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Money, Dear Boy: Why he wants a live Graboid or Ass-blaster. - Too Dumb to Live: Seriously, who in their right mind would think that trying to catch a Graboid alive to try and sell it would be a good idea?
- Walking Spoiler: Seriously, we can't write anything about him without giving away a significant plot point. Even the list of tropes above is spoilerific!
Johan Dreyer
- Played by: Brandon Auret
- Evil Poacher: Just like his boss. In fact, he was supposed to be out trying to catch a cheetah cub when he discovered the Graboid nest.
- Too Dumb to Live: He stands around shouting about how he can't die, because he's African, whilst Burt has just shot an Ass-blaster out of the air. It promptly lands on him, crushing/burning him to death.
Den Bravers
- Played by: Ian Roberts (actor)
- Cool Old Guy: A white-bearded man who advises Burt about the basic survival principle of the area (Run or Die) and shoots his way out of a graboids stomach after being swallowed.
- Put on a Bus: Den is absent from the final act due to being summoned to help fight a nearby brush fire.
Baruti
- Played By: Rea Rangaka
- Cannot Spit It Out: He has a hard time admitting his crush.
Thaba
- Played By: Sello Sebotsane
- Evil All Along: Thaba spends all of his scenes either displaying a Big Fun attitude or showing impressive bravery in the face of the Ass Blasters. However, Van Wyk introduces Thaba by claiming that they work together at a (nonexistent) wildlife ministry, meaning that Thaba is another Evil Poacher like his boss.
- Machete Mayhem: Stands his ground and fights an African ass-blaster with a machete.
- Shipper on Deck: He ships his friend Baruti and Montabu.
Lucia
- Played by: Natalie Becker
- Black Gal on White Guy Drama: Averted. Her and Dr. Swan's relationship is treated the matter of factly and as completely natural. Making it all the more a shame what happens to them.
- Irony: In her last scene, she talks about wanting to be together with her lover forever.
- Sex Signals Death: As with Dr. Swan, she gets killed after having made love.
African Graboid
- Monster Is a Mommy: Defends their nest with the ass-blasters.
- Signature Move: Their habit of jumping entirely above ground, then dropping on their prey. Backfires a few times on them though, as this way there's no dirt to shield them from large explosions.
- Super Prototype: Zigzagged. It's speculated in the sixth film (where they encounter Antarctic Graboids identical to this type) that this species of graboid is an older evolutionary stage, eventually travelling south and evolving into the American graboids of the first movies. They're bigger, faster, more ferocious, can burrow through solid rock, can jump through the air, and have detachable mouth tentacles compared to their later kin - but they never display the originals' intelligence, falling for repeat applications of tricks the originals would have wised up to.
African Ass-Blaster
The stronger and faster relative to the American Ass-Blaster.
- Monster Is a Mommy: Defends their nest with the graboids.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: The African variant has a circular, leech-like mouth filled with shredding fangs.
Grabbers
