This page covers the cameo characters of Wreck-It Ralph.
As mentioned in the opening paragraph, one of the most notable aspects of the movie is how Disney went out of its way and licensed a bunch of cameo characters from notable video game franchises. Unlike other cameos, these are neither lawyer-friendly nor blatant knockoffs. They're just the honest-to-God real deal, and their appearances here have a plot-relevant role (despite still remaining background characters), to boot! Not only, there's a great amount of detail and attention paid to them by the movie's makers. So, let's see the cameos present in this movie. Due to the many characters, some of whom are well hidden, this list is incomplete.
Nintendo
- King Bowser Koopa from Super Mario Bros.
- Mii-Expy versions of Princess Peach and Daisy also appear, and Mario himself is name-dropped by Felix at his 30th anniversary party.
- Ralph finds a Super Mushroom in Tapper's Lost and Found.
Sega
- Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog.
- Neff from Altered Beast (1988).
- Cyril the Zombie from House of the Dead.
- The Angel Kids from the arcade game of the same name.
- Mishaela from Shining Force (possibly, see "The Smurfette Principle" below).
Capcom
- M. Bisonnote , Zangief, Chun-Li, Cammy, and Blanka from Street Fighter II.
- Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter.
Midway (now Warner Bros. Interactive)
- Paperboy from Paperboy.
- The Bartender from Root Beer Tapper.
- Kano from Mortal Kombat is part of Ralph's villain support group.
- The player knight from Joust.
- Satan/Satine from Satan's Hollow.
Bandai Namco Entertainment
Gottlieb (technically licensed from Sony)
- Q*bert, Coily, Slick, and Ugg from Q*bert.
Konami
- Frogger from Frogger.
- Yuni from DanceDanceRevolution.
- An exclamation point from Metal Gear Solid.
Atari
- The ball and paddles from Pong.
- Bently Bear from Crystal Castles.
Data East
- Peter Pepper and an egg from BurgerTime.
Taito America
- The Qix from Qix.
Muginoho
- The Beard Papa's
mascot is a security guard at the Sugar Rush car factory.
Disney
- Tiny the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Lefty the octopus butler from Meet the Robinsons.
Other
- The player character (#127) from Cyborg Justice.
Detailed list of characters, in order of appearance.note
The Bad-Anon
Short for Bad-Guys Anonymous, this reunion of famous gaming villains is what, on a meta level, drew attention to the movie in the first place: this One-Scene Wonder was the first sign that this would be a movie "that got it right". In this reunion, taking place in the ghost-cage from Pac-Man and hosted by Clyde the ghost, various "bad guys" share their frustration about how their role doesn't help their popularity at all. All of them have some kind of issues about it, although the one who makes the biggest deal out of it is undoubtedly Ralph himself.
- Advertised Extra: Applies to all the cameos in general, but most of the movie's marketing included the Bad-Anon as one of its core points.
- Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad: Their mantra, known as the "Bad Guy Affirmation", is essentially an oath based on this concept. Justified in that their villainy is just part of a role they play, and they’re actually friendly and caring."I'm bad, and that's good. I'll never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be... than me."
- Book Ends: Ralph returns at the Bad-Anon at the end of the movie, only he's much happier with his job now, thus deserving a round of applause by the other "villains".
- Dysfunction Junction: Self-esteem issues are implied for every one of them, hence the "one game at a time" banner in order to discourage villains from attempting to seek popularity in other games, as it would put their own home game in jeopardy.
- Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: A few of the ones that aren't explicitly real video game characters are clearly Expys of existing characters. For example, the yellow robot is meant to be an expy of Cyrax from Mortal Kombat 3.
- Legion of Doom: Averted. Sure, they're all powerful villains in the same room, but they're not plotting anything because they're not doing their jobs during this scene.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": When Ralph announces he doesn't "want to be the bad guy anymore", especially due to how the rest of the group is otherwise faithful to each one's job — despite the unpopularity coming with it. Then again, this is what happens with most Disney movies dealing with a radical change in an established order. They also all know that if a villain "goes Turbo" that their game can't run properly and risks being deemed broken and will be unplugged, resulting in Cessation of Existence for the characters still inside it.
- Mean Characters, Nice Actors: They're villains in their respective games, but in their free time, they're genuinely nice people who are trying to help Ralph deal with his self-esteem during the Bad-Anon meetings.
- Oculothorax: One of the attendees is a large green creature wearing a crown that fits under this trope.
- Punch-Clock Villain: In the context of the movie, gaming characters are treated like actors playing their own role, and much like Ralph, the villains are good-natured people playing villains.
- Shown Their Work: All the cameos feature a lot of research.
Word of God explained that, while setting some conditions, the game companies understood straight away that Disney had the best of intentions with the movie, licensed cameos included. In setting said conditions, the game companies owning the characters essentially helped the movie's writers in keeping the cameos true to their original form. - The Smurfette Principle: There's only one female member present. She has no lines and is referred to as "Sorceress", but her hairstyle and skin and clothing coloration match. No one knows who exactly she’s supposed to represent, but the most common guess is Mishaela from Shining Force.
- Those Two Guys: Bowser and Eggman always appear right next to each other during the movie. No doubt the two are buddies from their Olympic days.
- Tropaholics Anonymous: This reunion is very reminiscent of real-life Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, right down to the "Hi, I'm (X); hi, (X)" routine.
- Villainous Friendship: Despite being the villains of their respective games, they’re a caring group of friends.
- Voiced by: Kevin Deters
One of the ghosts from Pac-Man debuts in the Disney Animated Canon with a secondary job as the host of the Bad-Anon meetings at his own home. Calm and collected, Clyde helps the others deal with their self-esteem issues, as their villainous roles, and consequent unpopularity, has taken quite the toll on the spirit they do their jobs with, although discouraging any thought of trying to play a different role. Later on in the movie, he appears in the background of Game Central Station a few times with his fellow ghosts Blinky, Inky, and Pinky. Like Coily, Eggman, and Bison below, Clyde appears alongside the hero opposing him, as Pac-Man himself makes a cameo in another part of the movie.
Used with Bandai Namco Entertainment's permission.
- Adaptational Intelligence: During the Bad-Anon meeting, Clyde is portrayed as a very smart, insightful, and bold character, traits that are completely the opposite of his video game counterpart.
- Blue with Shock: Alongside Bowser and Sonic below, Clyde is the one character with a particular in-game trait that the writers managed to work into the movie as a gag. In Clyde's case, he becomes Blue with Shock when doing his part in the bad guys' Mass "Oh, Crap!", becoming blue exactly as he does when Pac-Man eats a power pellet.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Clyde never really loses his cool, regardless of the villains' poor self-esteem, acknowledges Ralph's frustration but at the same time tries to help him realize that acting out will not solve his problem.
- Sincerity Mode: When he tells Ralph that "we can't change who we are", he says it without any trace of malice in his voice.
- Team Dad: He even kickstarts "the Bad-Guy affirmation" (quoted as the caption under the image for Bad-Anon, above).
- You Can't Fight Fate:Clyde: "Ralph, Ralph, we get it. But we can't change who we are."
- Voiced by: Rich Moore
The Russian-born powerhouse hailing from the Street Fighter franchise makes his debut in the Disney Animated Canon as a "bad guy" who really isn't, in order to help other gaming villains to be happy with the role they're given despite the fact they're all good-natured guys at heart.
Used with Capcom's permission.
- Accent Adaptation: He has a Caucasian accent in the Russian dub, referencing the real life wrestler he was named after, who was Ossetian.
- Adaptational Villainy: Zangief was never the villain in his game but more like a secondary-not-really-evil-antagonist. However his terrifying appearance combined with his Soviet origins made many players think him a bad guy. Of course, due to Mean Character, Nice Actor, this Zangief isn't really any more evil than his canon Street Fighter self. Lampshaded when Zangief points out that playing a villainous role doesn't mean you're evil yourself.
- Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad: He's perfectly okay with his job, to the point that he's heavily implied to attend the Bad-Anon just to help the other members; he doesn't really need to be reminded of such advice himself. In fact, he's the most relaxed among the baddies when reciting the "Bad Guy Affirmation", in sharp contrast with Eggman who, ironically, is right next to him.
- Be Yourself: His share is about his moment of clarity when he realized the importance of this trope. He is a guy who crushes men's heads like sparrow's eggs between his thighs and he's happy with that.
- Creator Cameo: Like Sour Bill, he's voiced by director Rich Moore.
- Dark Is Not Evil: At the Bad-Anon meeting:Zangief: When I hit bottom, I was crushing man's skull like sparrow's egg, between my thighs... and I think, why you have to be so bad, Zangief? Why can't you be more like good guy? Then I have moment of clarity... if Zangief is good guy, who will crush man's skull like sparrow's eggs between thighs? And I say: Zangief you are bad guy, but this does not mean you are bad guy.
- Hidden Depths: Has surprisingly profound insights regarding Bad-Anon's central message, and is shown hosting a book club in Ralph Breaks the Internet, where he brings up some rather complex topics of discussion.
- Face of a Thug: He's an extremely scary man with an angry expression, a mohawk and a body covered in scars, nevertheless Zangief is a friendly fellow.
- Limited Wardrobe: Apparently, aside from his boots, Zangief's only choice in clothes are his speedos, given that, aside from the ones he's wearing, there's also a pair of speedos at the Tapper bar. Then again, this is justified given Zangief's playable appearances in his own game series only feature that kind of outfit.
- Mother Russia Makes You Strong: He speaks with a Russian accent when going on about how he can crush a man's skull "like sparrow's egg" between his thighs.
- Murderous Thighs: Takes pride in his ability to crush men's heads like sparrow's eggs between his thighs.
- Nice Guy: Easily the nicest one of the bad guys. Probably because he's not actually a bad guy in his home series.
- Pet the Dog: As the baddies leave Pac-Man and board the train back to Game Central Station, Zangeif can be seen inviting Ralph to sit next to him, no doubt due to the vulnerability Ralph expressed during the meeting.
- Title Drop: As quoted in Zangief's caption, he's the one to tell Ralph to wander in "one game at a time", the same concept seen on the Bad-Anon banner, in order to suggest to him he'd better stay in his own game. It didn't work, at least at first.
- Token Good Teammate: Due to the aforementioned Adaptational Villainy, he's the least evil guy in the Bad-Anon group.
- Too Much Information: Ralph is
squicked to find a pair of his speedos at the Tapper bar. Most likely because one can't help but wonder why they're kept there in the first place. - You Are Better Than You Think You Are: As stated under his "Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad" entry above, the implied role for him within the context of the meeting itself is to remind other villains with self-esteem issues of this. "You are bad guy but that doesn't mean you bad, guy."
- Voiced by: Gerald C. Rivers
The actual villain from the Street Fighter franchise has two roles: on a meta level, he acts as a replacement for Dr. Wily; but, definitely most notably, within the context of the movie, he's the first character to introduce the concept of 'going Turbo', a line later used in the movie proper. As with his original, Street Fighter-verse counterpart, the Disneyverse Bison is a glowing-eyed world dictator, but, much like Zangief, is implied to only play that role. Additionally, like Coily, Eggman, and Clyde, Bison's cameo in the movie is accompanied by that of the hero opposing him, in his case Ryu.
Used with Capcom's permission.
- Adaptation Personality Change: This version is a good deal quieter than his more exuberant game counterpart. Of course, this could be how he's like when he isn't performing.
- Badass Arm-Fold: He spends most of his time at Bad-Anon this way, presumably because he finds it comfortable.
- Badass Cape: It's part of his outfit and adds to his fierce appearance.
- Evil Sounds Deep: His voice is deep but he is not evil. That's why he's here at the meeting.
- Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: He delivers his warning to Ralph with a stern point with his hand very close to the camera.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: M. Bison's most unique, defining physical trait is kept in the movie.
- Mythology Gag: A Street Fighter character talking about "going Turbo" references "Super Street Fighter II Turbo". It’s also a Red Herring for first time viewers who know nothing about Turbo and what he did.
- The Quiet One: He only speaks twice: first for the line about Ralph possibly going Turbo, and later when the support group meeting closes off.
- The Stoic: He's just as serious as he's always been.
- Take Over the World: World Dictator, OF COURSE!!! ...but only when he's on the clock.
Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, the villainous Mad Scientist from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, shows up in the weekly Bad-Anon meeting. Like Coily, Clyde, and Bison, his cameo appearance comes with that of the hero opposing him, in Eggman's case Sonic himself (see below).
Used with Sega's permission.
- Absent-Minded Professor: He does not seem to be focused on the meeting as it takes place. See The Eeyore below.
- Clasp Your Hands If You Deceive: Only in his render, as pictured here. He doesn't do it in the movie. More notably, there are two alternate poses for Eggman: one is the one pictured here, and the other is the image for this page as a whole. He clasps his hands in both.
- The Eeyore: He seems kind of depressed (or at least absent-minded; see above) during the meeting, and ends up looking down during the "Bad Guy affirmation" with a seemingly broken look on his face, as if he's about to break down sobbing. Most likely, he knows that the fact he's about to leave the meeting means he's only about to get his ass handed to him again.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Judging from a Freeze-Frame Bonus during the movie's opening, Eggman and Sonic's home in Litwak's Arcade is a Sonic the Fighters cabinet. Despite this, both of them are depicted with their Modern Era designs and voice actors, as opposed to their Classic Era selves from that game.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: He gets even with Sonic in the Creative Closing Credits. Sonic Spin-Dashes at him in Chemical Plant Zone, only to lose his rings in the process.
Full name King Bowser Koopa, the Big Bad of the Super Mario Bros. franchise makes his fire-breathing debut in the Disney Animated Canon as one of the "bad guys" attending the weekly Bad-Anon meeting. Unlike other cameos, this one isn't an Advertised Extra and is, instead, a non-speaking background cameo appearance, which is rather ironic considering the importance of the franchise in question. This might have something to do with either the infamy of the Suddenly Voiced Bowser in Super Mario Sunshine or the fact that, unlike Coily below and Clyde, Bison, and Eggman above, Bowser isn't accompanied by his nemesis Mario. This last fact is because the writers didn't know how to use Mario in the movie.
Still, Bowser's appearance in the movie is most likely, according to near-unanimous speculation, what led to the tie-in Licensed Game being a Nintendo exclusive (DS, Wii, and 3DS), despite said game not featuring any of the cameos.
Used with Nintendo's permission.
- Art Evolution: This film is technically Bowser's first official appearance in HDnote , and thus shows a lot more detail in his scales and hair than common for his franchise at the time.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Thanks to Universal owning the Super Mario Bros. movie rights, he's missing from Ralph Breaks the Internet, and he isn't mentioned at all by any of the characters.
- Must Have Caffeine: Much like in the real Alcoholics Anonymous groups (just think of the one in The Simpsons Movie), Bowser is seen drinking coffee. The explanation is either this, or coffee is simply Disneyverse Bowser's Trademark Favorite Food.
- Shown Their Work: Aside from Bowser's physical faithfulness to his original artwork (which, just as Eggman's, made his cameo in the first trailer all the more notable), there's the fact that, much like other cameos, the writers worked with each character's original owners — in this case, Nintendo — in order to make sure the characters stay true to form. Word of God is that the way Bowser is seen drinking coffee is how he is canonically supposed to do so.
- Shout-Out: His Spit Take is using his original SFX from the NES days.
- Spit Take: Much like Clyde's turning blue above and Sonic's loss of his rings below, this is a character-in-game-trait that the movie's writers managed to work in the movie as a gag. His breath of fire results in a fiery Spit Take (for the same reason Clyde becomes Blue with Shock, that is, during the Mass "Oh, Crap!" due to Ralph's "I don't want to be the bad guy anymore").
The Big Bad from Sega's Altered Beast (1988) makes a surprise appearance in the movie as a member of the Bad-Anon meeting. As with his original incarnation, Neff is an anthropomorphic rhino with magical powers, but he's not given as much importance as the other cameos and stays in the background most of the time.
Used with Sega's permission.
- Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Averted. Neff's is a non-speaking cameo.
- Formerly Fit: Neff is given a more chubby & stout appearance here, and appears more relaxed than usual. Since his game series is obscure and was released a while ago, it's understandable that Neff would let himself go a bit.
- Not So Stoic: Given his general demeanor, his reaction upon learning Ralph doesn't want to be the bad guy is rather humorous◊.
- Purple Is the New Black: Lampshaded in Neff's official bio on the film's site, as reported above. Interestingly, he's only purple in his home game when he Shows Damage; he's normally gray. In a bit of Recursive Adaptation, this design for Neff was later used in Sega Heroes.
- Rhino Rampage: This is the form he takes during the movie. It’s worth noting that this isn’t Neff's normal form- he fights the player throughout his game, and this is the form he takes for the fifth and final fight he has with the player.
- Voiced by: Brian Kesinger
This is a tricky one to describe. Simply put, the so-called "Cyborg" is essentially Kano, the Black Dragon crime boss from the gory, M-rated, and not-at-all-Disney-like Mortal Kombat franchise, whose appearance was fully authorized by the owners of the Mortal Kombat IP. However, in the movie, this Bad-Anon attendant is referred to as "Cyborg" for some reason. Most likely, this choice is supposed to avoid any close association between the Disney movie where Kano appears in and the latter's source material; going by this theory, we might say that "Cyborg" is actually a Disney-verse version of Kano. An authorized Captain Ersatz, if you will.
In fact, there's been some speculation about the character's identity when scans of a book adaptation of the movie surfaced online, given the presence of Cyborg among the Bad-Anon attendants despite said book only featuring Disney's own characters. Then the movie came out, and the fact that the writers had the balls to work into the movie what made the character so infamous in the first place confirmed that Cyborg, after all, was indeed supposed to be Kano all along. We're talking about Kano's Fatality, where he rips out someone's heart (and then some). No, really, he does it in full view of the camera.
Used with Midway's, now Warner Bros. Interactive's and NetherRealm Studios', permission.
- Adaptational Nationality: In the Mortal Kombat series, Kano has been an Awesome Aussie ever since the first live-action movie. Here, however, he speaks with an American accent for both of his lines.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: While still ripping out Zombie's heart to punctuate it, he still reassures Ralph that he's a good person at heart despite being the "bad guy" of his game, and his "you can't mess with the program" line indicates that he doesn't like his role any more than Ralph does, but chooses to accept it and do his job with grace and dignity. This is in stark contrast to Kano in Mortal Kombat canon, who is a ruthless criminal that utterly relishes in being as much of a scumbag as possible, and has earned the ire and mistrust of pretty much everyone in his home universe, and a few others.
- And Show It to You: Again, this is Kano, so he has to wave around Zombie's heart after yanking it out.
- Beat Still, My Heart: His trademark Finishing Move is kept intact in the film. Kano in a Disney movie, ladies and gentlemen.
- Captain Ersatz: As described above, this is now Disney's own Kano, due to the reasons listed. He's still Kano, and was used with the full permission of WB and Netherrealm, but now there's no need to worry about being associated with the MK brand.
- Notably, he has a few distinct differences from the canon Kano, such as a robotic arm Kano doesn't normally have, as well as not speaking in the character's usual Australian accent.
- Shout-Out: You can practically hear "FATALITY" with his finisher.
- Voiced by: Raymond S. Persi
Copyright-wise, Kano's situation (see above) also applies to Zombie, better known as who he's obviously
◊ supposed to be: Cyril, one of the zombie enemies from House of the Dead, only balding and without the blood on his face. Sure, Disney could have simply referred to the character's source material as "Curien Mansion", but there you go.
Anyway, for the character himself, this is Cyril's counterpart for the Disney Animated Canon: a zombie who, despite carrying two axes and being obviously as deranged as is to be expected from a zombie, is still a good guy at heart, as can be said about every other "villain" seen at Bad-Anon.
Used with Sega's permission.
- A Dog Named "Dog": Despite supposedly being Cyril, he introduces himself as "Zombie", and is even called by that name directly by Clyde.
- Blunt "Yes": He gives one to Ralph when Ralph asks if it is Turbo to want more out of life than getting constantly thrown off a building (or a piece of pie every once in a while).
- Cloudcuckoolander: He's a zombie, so of course he's strange. What did you expect?
- Dual Wielding: Carries two hatchets with him, which Clyde reminds him not to leave behind after the Bad-Anon meeting.
- Friendly Enemy: While he's a pretty stereotypical dimwitted, shambling, he's in all other aspects a nice and friendly guy.
- Hulk Speak: Well, it's already a miracle that a zombie can speak, anyway. He's not going to use proper grammar.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Sure, zombies don't need organs, but he could at least say something when Kano ripped out his heart.
- Nice Guy: Is the first to speak up after Zangeif to reassure Ralph that "labels not make you happy" and "you must love you".
- Runs with Scissors: He seems disturbingly nonchalant when flailing his arms while handling axes. Especially given that characters can respawn only in their games, and are otherwise mortal.
- Shown Their Work: As seen in the pic linked to in the opening paragraph above (alternate link),◊ the character's appearance is very faithful to that of the original Cyril, right down to the rips in his clothes (although the coloring of the Disneyverse Cyril is slightly darker, in addition to his aforementioned balding).
- Simple-Minded Wisdom: He may be a loopy zombie, but he gives Ralph words of wisdom about not investing too much in labels like "good" or "bad" since they're all just actors.
- Survival Horror: He's meant to represent this genre, as there aren't other references to survival horror games in the movie.
- Zombie Apocalypse: Averted. Cyril is the only zombie seen in the whole film. Credits aside, that is, and he's not responsible for any near-apocalypse.
Other Characters
- Voiced by: Jamie Sparer Roberts
Actually the first cameo seen in the film, Yuni, representing DanceDanceRevolution in the Disney Animated Canon, appears for a few seconds with a specific purpose: the placement of her game's cabinet allows her to see if there are still people around when Litwak's arcade closes, allowing other characters to cut the act.
Used with Konami's permission.
- Attract Mode: Yuni's dancing on her own — or rather, pretending to, as she's just checking if there's still anyone in the arcade.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: Her stockings don't match, much like Vanellope's (who appears in the movie after Yuni does); nor do her wristbands (one of which has a detached sleeve). Or the sides of her skirt, for that matter. Let's just say only her shirt and her face appear to be perfectly symmetrical.
- Girlish Pigtails: She has two ponytails, likely for the design cuteness.
- Shout-Out: The fact someone has to tell the others when to cut the act parallels Toy Story, as the very same happened with the titular toys in that movie. Given Disney's description of this movie was (contrary to the fandom's "Who Framed Roger Rabbit with video game cameos") "the videogame equivalent of Toy Story", this is most likely intentional.
Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter are introduced to the Disney Animated Canon right after Yuni (just read the quote in Yuni's caption, and then the one in Ryu and Ken's caption in quick succession), when Ryu suddenly stops attacking Ken as soon as he's sure there's no one else in the arcade; the two then leave. Ryu reappears at Tapper's as a background character later on in the movie.
Used with Capcom's permission.
- Attract Mode: Same as Yuni's dancing described above. Ryu is seen attacking Ken with a Shoryuken, only to stop as soon as Yuni tells him he can cut the act.
- Bonus Stage: In the Creative Closing Credits, Ralph and Vanellope reunite with Ryu and destroy the infamously tough car from Street Fighter II within seconds. Which is kind of a Justified Trope, considering wrecking stuff is what Ralph does best. Then Ralph gets curbstomped by Blanka, quickly proving that while Ralph's strength is unrivaled when it comes to wrecking stuff, the Street Fighters are still the best when it comes to actual fighting.
- Brick Joke: After asking Ken to go drink something at Tapper's together, he's later seen at Tapper's when Ralph visits said game (which also happens to act as an actual bar for game characters in the Wreckverse).
- Calling Your Attacks: Shoryuken!
- Mood Whiplash: They immediately go from fighting to heading off for a drink together.
- Mythology Gag: In case you're wondering why Ryu and Ken "leave together like best buds" when the arcade closes, it's because in the Street Fighter games they are best buds anyway.
The first cameos spotted after the Bad-Anon scene ("spotted" being the keyword here), Chun-Li and Cammy — still hailing from the Street Fighter franchise — don't do as much as Ryu and Ken do, but Chun-Li herself still appears often throughout the movie as a background cameo. Neither Chun-Li nor Cammy have any lines at all.
Used with Capcom's permission.
- Advertised Extra: Chun-Li in the movie's Chinese release, as seen in the bottom-right corner of the image. Perhaps justified not only because of Chun-Li's Chinese nationality, but also because she replaced Bison in the movie's Chinese poster... and a red-clothed dictator portrayed as a "bad guy" wouldn't quite fly there.
- Bowdlerise: Cammy isn't quite as Stripperiffic as in her home series, wearing green tights instead of displaying her bare legs and barely-concealed buttocks.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The top-left corner of the image can be seen while the camera is panning from the "GAME CENTRAL STATION" sign to the Station itself. And as for Cammy, that's it.
Pretty much the entire Q*bert cast returns in the movie, as a living deconstruction of the modern gaming industry: the success of the more modern, Rated M for Money shooters led to Litwak's Q*Bert cabinet's lack of popularity, which eventually culminated in the plug of said cabinet being pulled. Now with his own game "unplugged", Q*Bert himself barely managed to evacuate his own game alongside his co-workers(Coily, Ug, Wrong-Way, Slick and Sam) with whom he now lives as a homeless hobo, struggling every day just for some food. At least, however, he and his former in-game "enemies" are now more of a family, and as such always stick together.
Q*Bert is also the most plot-relevant of the cameos, as he interacts directly with most of the main cast: he first met Ralph when the latter gave him one of his two cherries out of compassion, and later recognized the same guy after he stole Pvt. Markowski's Powered Armor. He told Felix about Ralph's game-jumping shortly afterwards.
He and his family then found themselves a better place to live by the end of the movie.
Used with, essentially, Columbia Pictures' permission (as they owned Gottlieb for a while in the late 70s and early 80s, before they spun it off under the auspices of Coca-Cola (who also briefly tried to re-brand the pinball business as Mylstar), so they continue to own the rights to Q*Bert even despite Gottlieb going out of business in 1996).
- Beggar with a Signboard: The page image shows two varieties of this trope simultaneously: "Game Unplugged, Please Help" (type 1), and "Will NPC in FPS for food" (type 2). Only the first is seen in the film proper.
- Butt-Monkey: Either that or Iron Butt Monkey, take your pick. The already heavy Ralph trips on Q*Bert while wearing the Powered Armor. Somehow, he doesn't get hurt.
- Despair Event Horizon: They're heavily implied to have crossed it already, given one of them is willing to appear as "a Non-Player Character in a First-Person Shooter for food" (though only according to the promotional image seen above). Bear in mind, this is right after we're told characters become mortal outside of their own games.
- Determinator: Given that — outside of his game — Q*Bert is essentially mortal, the fact he's gone to the then-soon-to-be-unplugged game of Fix-It Felix Jr. alone is rather notable. Little dude has balls.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Possibly as a reward for telling Felix about Ralph and his then-current whereabouts, the cast of Fix-It Felix Jr. thanked them all by offering them to live (and appear as NPCs!) in a "Bonus Level" made just for them at the end of the movie.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: Felix happens to know Q*Bert-ese. Even more thankfully, Felix then provides some Parrot Exposition in order for the audience understand as well.
- Punch-Clock Villain: With the exception of Q*Bert, they (Coily, Ug, and Wrong-Way) were all villains for their game; Slick and Sam were in-game minor annoyances. They get to reprise their roles as video game antagonists at the end.
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: Having been unplugged for who-knows-how-long, Q*bert has obviously had plenty of time in which to practice this; practice which has definitely paid off, because he is very good at it.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He may not have too big a role in the story overall, but it's thanks to Q*Bert specifically that Felix learns of Ralph's escape to Hero's Duty.
- Speaking Simlish: Let's just say that Q*Bert's Symbol Swearing is rendered pretty well on the big screen. Apparently, Q*Bert-ese is a language.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: As a Meaningful Background Event, at a certain point in the movie we see Peter Pepper is offering them a meal on the house.
- True Companions: Without the "job" that their home game was, they no longer have any reasons to hold any grudges — not even fictional ones — against each other, and now live pretty much like a family. Sure, they're utterly miserable, but still, at least they're not miserable and lonely.
- You Bastard!: Let's just say that the viewers who prefer the newer games over the old-school classics are likely to find another reason to feel sorry for Q*Bert.
- You Can't Go Home Again: Q*Bert and the other baddies from his game managed to escape when their console was unplugged some point before the events of the movie. Averted by the end of the film, Ralph and Felix managed to create a set of apartments for them inside of Fix-It Felix jr.
- Voiced by: Roger Craig Smith
One of the most notable cameos in the movie, the eponymous protagonist from the series of the same name, Sonic the Hedgehog, makes his debut in the Disney Animated Canon. His role here is that of a much more famous game star than others, and much like "big name stars" in Real Life, here he uses his fame for the greater good by starring in PSAs about a vital rule within the context of the movie: essentially, when a character wanders outside his or her own game, said character becomes mortal, and as such any death is the Permadeath. Given the exposition he provides, Sonic is a cameo given a prominent role indeed, much like Q*Bert (see above).
All of this, of course, happens when our beloved blue blur is not busy Saving the World.
Other than being advertised a lot, the Sonic cameo also appears a few more times throughout the movie, again, much in the same vein as Q*Bert. Unlike Q*Bert, however, Sonic's appearance is part of a deal between Disney and Sega: in exchange for Sonic's cameo, Ralph himself will appear as a Guest Racer in Sega's Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed; however, this part of the deal also granted Roger Craig Smith in English and Jun'ichi Kanemaru in the Japanese dub to deliver their respective lines in their languages as Sonic, which is another reason why this cameo has been met with such praise.
As obvious as it is, used with Sega's permission.
- Ascended Extra: A very downplayed example. He's still a cameo character in the sequel, but he does directly interact with Ralph more often than he did in the first film.
- Chekhov's Lecture: The dramatic explanation of the perils of game-jumping was obviously setting up a huge plot point.
- Deadpan Snarker: When he corrects Ralph on how to properly pronounce "Wi-Fi".
- Death Throws: When losing his rings, exactly as it happened back in the 2D games. This happens just as Ralph's escape pod flies into Sugar Rush. This shot was re-animated (see below) at Sega's explicit request, as confirmed by Word of God.
- Hidden Depths: In the sequel, he is shown to be aware of what Wi-Fi is compared to other characters, and is a reader of Russian literature.
- Mascot with Attitude: Sonic's lines are delivered this way, in order to have his characterization as "true-to-form" as possible. It worked — Sonic's portrayed perfectly in-character in the movie.
- Mr. Exposition: Gives Ralph a brief summary of what Wi-Fi is when Litwak first plugs in the router.
- Mythology Gag:
- Sonic attending a 30th anniversary party? Gee, he might have taken a liking of those after his own 20th anniversary party...
- He delivers a PSA in the central station, just like he did back in his old cartoon.
- Sonic joins a book club in Break the Internet. Sonic has shown to be a reader in the past.
- His explaining the Internet to Ralph and Vanellope is also akin to the aforementioned cartoon's Sonic Sez segments.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Like Eggman above, he supposedly originates from a Sonic the Fighters cabinet somewhere in the arcade, yet he has his Modern Era design and voice actor rather than the Classic Sonic design used by that game.
- Oh, Crap!: He looks visibly — and understandably — disturbed (then again, that is an exact replica of his Death Throws sprite) when he loses his rings. Justified, given the rule he explained in his own PSA.
- Public Service Announcement: His most prominent appearance in the movie has him giving one, explaining, as stated above, that characters can die outside of their own game, as respawning is limited to one's own home game only. It might double as a Mythology Gag, given all the "Sonic Sez" segments.
- Scare 'Em Straight: His PSA is this In-Universe. The way he says "Game over" is either a sign of attitude or just plain cynicism.
- Small Role, Big Impact:
- In the first movie, his PSA about the perils of game-jumping was actually used to foreshadow the way the Big Bad kicked the bucket. King Candy, a.k.a. Turbo, got Killed Off for Real only because he died in Sugar Rush, while his own home game was the now-unplugged Turbo Time.
- In Ralph Breaks the Internet, he makes a brief appearance at the beginning to explain the concepts of Wi-Fi and the Internet to Ralph and Vanellope. This knowledge, however, helps Ralph and Vanellope to get the idea of going on the internet to save Sugar Rush.
- Super-Speed:
- Underplayed. When Sonic is "seen" (read: blink and you'll miss it) running in Game Central Station, he's not running particularly fast. Though this could be to avoid running into someone.
- He is seen running (and spinning) a little closer to his in-game speed during the credits sequence, though, Wheel o' Feet and all.
- Vocal Evolution: In the first film, Roger Craig Smith had only just started voicing Sonic. By the sequel, Smith had voiced Sonic in various games and a cartoon since the first film, giving him time to refine his performance as Sonic, which carries over to his performance in the sequel.
The Man himself, Pac-Man, munches his way into the Disney Animated Canon doing what he does best: eat everything in sight, while attending the Fix-It Felix Jr. 30th Anniversary Party. Notably, he's depicted in the film as his classic ball-with-a-slice-cut-from-it form instead of his more anthropomorphized form seen in later iterations of the character as in Pac-Land or Super Smash Bros..
Used with Bandai Namco Entertainment's permission.
- Big Eater: According to Word of God, this trait for Pac-Man's cameo appearance has been explicitly requested by Namco.
- Irony: When Ralph destroys the Niceland Apartments-shaped cake in a fit of rage, Pac-Man is splattered with it. What's ironic? He didn't get to eat the cake.
- Jaw Drop: Pac-Man's response. A disappointed Big Eater, indeed. For further irony, there's the Hypocritical Humor-in-hindsight provided by Ralph.Ralph: Pac-Man! They invited Pac-Man? That cherry-chasing, dot-muncher isn’t even part of this game!
- Mythology Gag: For the same reason as Sonic above — the fact Pac-Man is seen at a Milestone Celebration can't be coincidental. Does the title Pac-Man World ring any bells?
- Pac Man Fever: The guy isn't the Trope Namer for nothing. Sure, the movie averted the trope, but frankly the movie wouldn't be quite complete without a reference to one of the most famous gaming icons.
Yes, that Skrillex. While not technically a gaming cameo, he appears at the Fix-It Felix Jr. Anniversary Party nonetheless — as their official DJ. He has no lines, though.
Used with Skrillex's own permission.
- Ambiguous Situation: Yeahhhh... we have no idea why or even how he's here. As Honest Trailers put it: "Wait, what game did Skrillex come from?"
- Ink-Suit Actor: Just in case you thought Ralph, Vanellope, Felix, and Calhoun were blatant — just wait until you notice him. He flat-out appears As Himself (though he doesn't have any lines).
- Voiced by: Maurice LaMarche
Acting as a bartender for all the arcade games' heroes, Tapper appears in the movie as his bar goes beyond its purpose as a proper game, working as a place where more characters meet aside from Game Central Station itself.
Therefore, as Ralph himself notes, Tapper knows a lot of people. Ryu and Peter Pepper have been spotted there, as well as other gaming characters seen in some portraits hanging on the bar's walls.
Used with Midway's, now Warner Bros. Interactive's, permission.
- Almighty Janitor: Given the stuff Ralph finds in the lost-and-found, it's safe to say Tapper knows at least Mario and Solid Snake. Yeah.
- The Bartender: Both in his game and after hours, which is where his main role in the plot takes place.
- Excuse Me While I Multitask: Inverted. Tapper interrupts his chat with Ralph (see the quote in his caption here) for about five seconds only, in order to quickly resume his role in his game by giving the customers the drinks they wanted. He then goes back to said chat.
- Frothy Mugs of Water: Tapper's bar serves Root Beer, despite the game being still Tapper and not Root Beer Tapper — and at least one character has either been seen Drowning His Sorrows or implied to.
- Limited Animation: Despite being shown with better graphics than those of the Nicelanders, he has the same erratic movements as they do. It's a bit jarring.
- Nice Guy: He still manages to listen to Ralph's rant despite having a job to do, and does his best to comfort him while outright stating the biggest help he can offer is allowing Ralph to look for a medal in the bar's lost-and-found.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Turbo got the Konami Code from Tapper's Lost-And-Found box, as the Tapper logo on the note King Candy uses reveals.
While not counting as characters in the strictest sense, these portraits are worth mentioning because they depict many cameos and Original Generation characters alike, some of which (Tails in particular comes into mind) only made it in the movie only thanks to this gimmick.
They've been drawn by artist Bobby Pontillas, and some of them can be seen in good quality on his blog. The idea, according to Pontillas himself, was to replicate the overall effect of Sardi's restaurant in New York, as many caricatures of famous guests who have visited the place can be found there.
In order to avoid making the already really tall image even taller than it is, here are the two pages of the website Disney Screencaps depicting the scene, so you can look for other portraits there... if you want to go for a Wiki Walk, that is.
Each character's been used with their respective copyright owners' permission.
- All There in the Manual: As said before, the good-quality portraits come from Pontillas' blog. They're unavailable elsewhere.
- Creator Cameo: Rich Moore.◊
- Deliberately Monochrome: There's not a single one of them with color to some extent.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Felix has signed his own portrait (yes, he has a portrait there) as "Fix-It Felix Jr. (From the game, 'Fix-It Felix Jr.')".
- The Ghost: If there's a character among the portraits who doesn't appear in CGI, then that's about it. We're looking at you, Tails.◊
- Averted, though, with Blanka and E. Honda, who show up in sprite form during the end credits.
- Hero of Another Story: Most of them can count as this, as has been said about Sonic above, since they have their own (unseen) game adventures.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: "Cheers, earthling!"
- Mythology Gag: The pictures are reminiscent of the art style seen in traditionally animated Disney films, giving the idea of what a 2D Wreck-It Ralph could have looked like.
- Nonstandard Character Design: Given the characters come from different games, it's kind of a given. Despite this, it's worth noting that in some cases the characters stick to their original art style (Sonic's portrait looks like his Sonic Channel artwork in terms of style alone), while others are drawn in Pontillas' own art style.
- Shout-Out: As mentioned above, the caricatures are inspired by Sardi's restaurant in New York.
- Versus Character Splash: Take a look at Ryu's and Ken's caricatures, in the pic for their entry, above. They're facing each other. It was most likely intentional on Pontillas' part.
- Voiced by: John DiMaggio
What's been said about Skrillex also applies to this guy. While not technically a gaming character, Beard Papa, the mascot of the eponymous chain of cream puff stores, appears in the movie as the guard to the Kart Bakery in Sugar Rush. In said Kart Bakery, the "create your own kart" minigame is held, as player characters can create their own karts there (within a minute).
Fitting Sugar Rush's ongoing theme of Product Placements justified by the game's status as one big Level Ate, Beard Papa somehow combines said Product Placement with that of an actual character thanks to his cameo appearance.
Used with Mugino Co., Ltd.'s permission (or should we say "request"?).
- Catching Some Z's: There are literal Zs in the air as it happens.
- Evil Old Folks: He works for King Candy, after all...that is, until his memory is restored.
- The Guards Must Be Crazy: Sleeping on the job, with a sneaky glitch character around. Clever.
- Heavy Sleeper: Surprisingly enough, noise doesn't wake him up. Smell, on the other hand...
- Product Placement: Combined with a character, to boot. And justified much like the other PP in Sugar Rush.
