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The Foster Family
Winnie Foster
Winnie Foster
The female protagonist of the book. She is a high spirited society girl who longs to see the world outside her gates.- Age Lift: In the book, the 1981 film and Broadway musical, Winnie is ten, but in the 2002 Disney adaptation, she is 15. This was done deliberately to avoid a May–December Romance between her and Jesse.
- Family of Choice: Winnie has a much better relationship with the Tucks than her own parents.
- I Just Want to Be Free: She longs to be outside the confines of her home.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: As seen in the 2002 film adaptation, Winnie is uncomfortable with the trappings of her station and wants to experience being a destitute person…or perhaps someone else entirely.
- Rebellious Princess:
- Spirited Young Lady: Highly strung and rebellious against society’s standards and expectations.
- Uptown Girl: Hails from a landed-gentry family, but falls for the immortal hillbilly Jesse Tuck.
Mr. and Mrs. Foster
Robert and Betsy Foster
Winnie’s parents. While they adore her, they see social expectations before their daughter’s happiness.- Break the Haughty: Mrs. Foster’s character development.
- Missing Child: Winnie goes missing for a long time and they spend much of the book frantically searching for her.
- My God, What Have I Done??: Mrs. and Mr. Foster believe they drove Winnie away and try their damnedest to bring her back, even going as far as enlisting the Man in the Yellow Suit for help.
- Parents as People: Can you really dislike them if they’re simply doing what they believe is best for Winnie?
- Took a Level in Kindness: By the end of the book.
- Why Couldn't You Be Different?: Mrs. Foster would rather see Winnie being brought up as a proper society girl than a tomboy.
Grandmother Foster
Grandmother Foster
Winnie’s maternal grandmother. She thinks the Tucks are elves.- Cassandra Truth: She insinuates the Tucks are elves and so knows they're immortal. The rest of her relatives write her off, of course.
- Demoted to Extra/Death by Adaptation: Has a smaller role in the 2002 film in which she dies of old age.
- Scatter Brained Senior: She hears the Tuck family’s music box, believing it to be the music of elves.
The Tuck Family
Tropes for all of them:
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Of varying degrees. Angus wants to grow old but he can't and is envious when Mae clouts the Man in the Yellow Suit in the head, killin' him because he can't die. Jesse doesn't mind it so much but it gets lonely and Miles have already experienced that loneliness after his wife and kid left because they don't age. Mae, on the other hand seems to have just accepted it because she doesn't have to keep up with the times, however, they all agree to keep the spring a secret.
Jesse Tuck
Jesse Tuck
The male protagonist on the book. He is a fifteen year old boy who is actually a lot older than what he appears to be.- Promoted to Love Interest: In the 2002 film adaptation.
- Older Than They Look: Well, Winnie definitely didn't believe 'im when he told her he was 104.
- Really 700 Years Old: He looks to be around 17 but, at the begining part of the story, he tells Winnie that he's 104 but she doesn't believe him
Miles Tuck
Miles Tuck
The oldest son of the family. He got married at around 22- Deal with the Devil: His ex-wife thought he did this after they'd been married for 20 years. He didn't but, of course, youthful immortality looked that way to said ex.
Ma Tuck
Mae "Ma" Tuck
The family matriarch.- The Man They Couldn't Hang: Her being sentenced to death via hanging for killing The Man in the Yellow Suit before he could get his hands on the spring water is what causes the other Tucks plus Winnie to break her out of prison and run away, as her not dying from hanging would blow their secret open.
Pa Tuck
Angus "Pa" Tuck
The family patriarch.- Who Wants to Live Forever?: This is a reason why he trusts Winnie to be the Secret-Keeper. If anyone else knew, they'd drink from the spring and they'd regret it.
Other characters
The Man in the Yellow Suit
The Man in the Yellow Suit
The chief antagonist of the book.- No Name Given: Really, as we don't know this dude's name but we do know he wears a yellow suit and that's 'bout it.
Toad
A toad that Winnie found.
- Pet the Dog: At the end of the book/movie, Winnie douses the toad in the magical spring water and the Tucks encounter him again in 1958, with Angus remarking "He thinks he's going to live forever."
