History Characters / DeadPoetsSociety

'''Mr. Perry''': [[DramaQueen Oh, stop it! Don't be so dramatic! You make it sound like a prison term!]] You don't understand, Neil! You have opportunities that I never even dreamt of, and I am not going to let you waste them!\\

* TokenGoodTeammate: Out of the strict conservative establishment that is the Welton teaching staff, [=McAllister=] is the only one who strikes up a friendship with Keating and even adopts some of his methods. When Keating is fired, [=McAllister=] takes the time to wave goodbye to him and appears genuinely saddened to see him go.

* HateSink: He's a brown-noser, doesn't like anything the others do, is constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure things don't come back to haunt him, and [[spoiler:rounds it off by ratting on everyone to save his own miserable hide]]. Eventually, Charlie decks him hard enough to cause a nosebleed]]--[[CatharsisFactor and boy is it satisfying]].

* SmugSnake: He [[spoiler: betrays the Society]], and encourages the others to do the same. When Charlie punches him, he gloats that [[spoiler: now Charlie is going to be expelled for sure.]]

* HateSink: He's a brown-noser, doesn't like anything the others do, is constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure things don't come back to haunt him, and [[spoiler:rounds it off by ratting on everyone to save his own miserable hide]]. Eventually, Charlie decks him hard enough to cause a nosebleed--[[CatharsisFactor and boy is it satisfying]].

* LaserGuidedKarma: After he rats out the Society to save himself, Charlie punches him in the face.
* NeverMyFault: After Neil's suicide, Cameron narrows the list of suspects down to Mr. Keating, eliminating Neil's dad, Dean Nolan, and the rest of the faculty from being liable for Neil's death:

* {{Turncoat}}: His switching allegiances from the Society to Dean Nolan results in Keating's forced resignation after Neil's death.

* BerserkButton: Never contradict or talk back to him, especially if you happen to be Neil. Neil wanting to act is also this, to the point that [[DisproportionateRetribution when he sees Neil acting, he drags Neil home and announces his intention of sending Neil to a military academy!]]

* HateSink: He's abusive to Neil, completely crushes his dreams of acting [[spoiler:and [[DrivenToSuicide drives his son to suicide]]]], and even blames Keating for everything and solely focuses on ''his'' reaction to the events, [[NeverMyFault thinking himself blameless]]. Compared to Nolan, who went too far at times but was also simply doing his job, Mr. Perry is just an unreasonable jerk and loser of a father.

* IgnoredEpiphany: It seems like he might come to regret his actions after finding Neil's dead body...but he instead pins the blame on Mr. Keating.
* ItsAllAboutMe: His reaction to Neil's suicide is to scream, "My son, my son!" A subtle indication that he only sees Neil as an extension of himself and the vehicle for his legacy. This fits perfectly with the controlling and domineering behavior he displays in every other interaction they have.

* JerkassHasAPoint: While Mr. Perry is a ControlFreak who unwittingly [[DrivenToSuicide pushes Neil to shoot himself when he crushes Neil's dream of becoming an actor,]] when Neil is confronted about the forged letter, he has a point when he asks Neil how he ever expected to get away with pulling such an outrageous stunt.
* KarmaHoudini: Zigzagged. He never receives any direct comeuppance for his role in Neil's suicide, and he doesn't even seem to realize he was at fault. Instead, he starts an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Neil's death that results in Keating's dismissal from Welton. All the same, his ruthless and cold-hearted parenting did end up costing him his son, which he is shown to be genuinely upset over.
* KnightTemplarParent: After Neil's death, he urges the Welton faculty members to conduct a thorough investigation of Mr. Keating and the Dead Poets Society.

* MeddlingParents: He is so determined that Neil should become a doctor, he consults Nolan to discontinue Neil's future involvement with the school yearbook, and forbids Neil to ever speak in his own defense, especially when he removes him from Welton after the play has concluded. Eventually, blinded by his ambitious goals for Neil becoming a doctor, he calls for an investigation into Mr. Keating and the Dead Poets Society's activities after Neil's suicide, ignoring that his pressure on Neil to become a doctor was the real cause of his suicide.

* NeverMyFault: How he plays out Neil's suicide. Instead of admitting he was wrong for forcing Neil to become a doctor, he blames Mr. Keating for everything.

* VicariouslyAmbitious: He hopes that Neil will get to experience the opportunities he never had through Neil becoming a doctor, with his hopes and aspirations ending tragically and abruptly when Neil commits suicide.

* {{Nerd}}: He's an intelligent young man who wears large glasses with chunky black frames, and excels in every subject he studies.

* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler: He is one of the most pure-hearted characters in the film, which makes it incredibly tragic when he commits suicide to escape his extremely controlling and abusive father.]]

[[folder: George McAllister]]

* ControlFreak: He wants his son to go to Harvard and become a doctor, and won't let him do anything else.

* CannotSpitItOut: Neil can never bring himself to tell his father how he feels; his father considers acting, or indeed anything that won't directly lead to getting into Harvard medical school, to be an off-limits activity.

** The way his father responds doesn't help. Neil says to him "I've got to tell you how I feel", and he practically yells "'''What'''? What? Tell me what you feel! What is it? Is it more of this, this '''acting''' business? Because you can forget that! What?"

* AbusiveParents: Is unrelentingly controlling of Neil, forcing him into a life plan he hates and making him give up even Welton-encouraged extracurricular activities, and the normally outgoing, confident Neil is noticeably cowed around him. [[spoiler:When Neil goes ahead with performing in the local play, Mr. Perry immediately drags him home and plans to send him to military school]].

* [[spoiler:IDieFree]]: After he's had his moment to shine on the stage, even if it was for just one night, he tells himself, "I was good, I was really good", [[spoiler:before he pulls the trigger rather than face being sent to boot camp]].

* NiceGirl: And that's... basically her only trait.

* AbusiveParents / ParentalNeglect: They treat Todd as TheUnfavorite and barely seem to remember he exists most of the time, and neither care about his obvious anxiety and shyness. A deleted scene spells out how emotionally abusive Mr Anderson is:

* {{Jerkass}}: Mr Anderson spends what little screentime he has berating Todd or barking orders at him.
* ParentalFavouritism: They much prefer their oldest son [[{{TheAce}} Jeffrey, who was valedictorian and a National Merit Scholar]], over Todd.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: They only appear in two scenes, but their influence on Todd is present and obvious throughout the film.

* [[{{NiceGuy}} Nice Girl]]: And that's... basically her only trait.

* PuppyDogEyes: He has [[{{TheWoobie}} kicked puppy variety]] when he's scared or shy (which is most of the time) -- best seen when Keating first tries to get him to speak in class, but then quickly relents after Todd offers a pleading look.

* {{Narcissist}}: He has definitive shades of this, being obsessive and possessive of spoiler:Neil's devotion to him and his future plans, seeing him more as a tool than as his son.

* {{Narcissist}}: He has definitive shades of this, being obsessive and possessive of [[spoiler:Neil's]] devotion to him and his future plans, seeing him more as a tool than as his [[spoiler:son]].

* KarmaHoudini: Not only does he never receive any comeuppance for his role in Neil's suicide, he doesn't even seem to realize he was at fault. Instead, he starts an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Neil's death that results in Keating's dismissal from Welton, [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse with no further mention of any grief he may experience after Neil takes his life.]]

* AbusiveParents / ParentalNeglect: In contrast to the pressure that Neil suffers, Todd's parents view him as the family disappointment, don't expect him to amount to anything, and forget he exists most of the time. A DeletedScene reveals his dad equated his value as a person to his ''chemical worth'' unless he made something of himself.

* AbusiveParents: He's overly controlling and unfeeling towards his only son.

* AbusiveParents / ParentalNeglect: They barely seem to remember Todd exists most of the time, and neither care about his obvious anxiety and shyness. A deleted scene spells out how emotionally abusive Mr Anderson is:

* HateSink: He's abusive to Neil, completely crushes his dreams of acting [[spoiler:and [[DrivenToSuicide drives his son to suicide]]]], and even blames Keating for everything and solely focuses on ''his'' reaction to the events, [[NeverMyFault thinking himself blameless]].

* BadLiar: Mr. Keating is quick to see through his lies when he says his dad was okay with him acting.

* TheBGrade: There'll be hell to pay if he gets anything less than an A+ average.

* {{Bromance}}: With Todd. Despite Todd's shyness, they quickly bond and end up the closest of the poets.

* CannotSpitItOut: Neil can never bring himself to tell his father how he feels; his father considers acting an off-limits activity.
** He can't even be honest with Mr. Keating in regards to discussing the possibility of acting, and he's so ashamed of fibbing to Mr. Keating, that he didn't even listen to what Mr. Keating had to say, leaving Keating with a confused look on his face.
** It doesn't help the way his father responds. Neil says to him "I've got to tell you how I feel" and he practically yells "*What*? What? Tell me what you feel! What is it? Is it more of this, this *acting* business? Because you can forget that! What?"
* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: After his dad consults with Dean Nolan and they decide he can work on the school annual next year, they step outside the dorm room, where he quietly and firmly tells Neil that he won't tolerate any of his complaints, demanding unquestioning obedience to his wishes.:

'''Neil''': But, Father, it's not fair! I..."

-->'''Mr. Perry''': Tomorrow I'm withdrawing you from Welton and enrolling you in Braighton Military School. You're going to Harvard, and you're gonna be a doctor.\\

* CompulsiveLiar: In order to make it to the play auditions at Henley Hall, he makes the excuse of a dental appointment to cover his playing hooky. In order to make the play, he types up a permission letter and forges his dad's signature. Later, after his dad gets wind of the scheme, he forces Neil to withdraw from the play. Later, Neil is so dejected that he tells Keating his dad is letting him stay in the play and lies that his dad will be in Chicago for a business trip. After he's unenrolled from Welton, the relationship of trust between Neil and his dad has deteriorated so badly that his dad refuses to hear anything Neil has to say about his feelings or passions.
* DecoyProtagonist: Is the focus student for much of the film, but after [[spoiler:his death]], it becomes apparent that the real protagonist is Todd.
* DrivenToSuicide: After his father forbids him to perform in the theatre and is forced to withdraw him from Welton, [[spoiler: he plays a lethal game of RussianRoulette]].
* ExtracurricularEnthusiast: His extracurricular activities are reduced when his dad consults with Dean Nolan to discontinue working on the school annual.

* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Sanguine.
* GayngstInducedSuicide: Neil's {{Ambiguously Gay}} status makes him a possible victim of this trope when he [[spoiler:commits suicide]].
* [[spoiler:IDieFree]]: After he's had his moment to shine even if it was for just one night, he tells himself: "I was good, I was really good," [[spoiler:before he pulls the trigger rather than face boot camp]].
* PoorCommunicationKills: After his father discovers the forged letter and forces him to quit the play, he has an uneasy feeling, lying to Keating about his father giving him permission, and Keating has a bit of a puzzled look on his face. Once the rumor becomes true, the level of trust has deteriorated between Neil and his dad. When Neil is withdrawn from Welton by his father, he can't even come up with another subject that isn't related to acting.

* SchoolClubsAreSeriousBusiness: He pours all his soul into the drama club activity.
* StepfordSmiler: He was miserable underneath his outgoing and cheerful personality. [[spoiler:It makes his death so very shocking]].
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: [[spoiler: He is one of the most pure-hearted characters throughout the course of the film, which makes it incredibly tragic when he commits suicide to escape his extremely controlling and abusive father.]]
* TragicBromance: With Todd. Neil is immediately protective of Todd and seemingly makes it his mission to bring him out of his shell. [[spoiler: Then his own problems crush him and he commits suicide, leaving his best friend more broken than before]].

* AbusiveParents / ParentalNeglect: In contrast to the pressure that Neil suffers, Todd's parents view him as the family disappointment, don't expect him to amount to anything and forget he exists most of the time. A DeletedScene reveals his dad equated his value as a person to his ''chemical worth'' unless he made something of himself.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Both his parents and staff adore his brother Jeffrey, who was apparently [[{{TheAce}} Valedictorian and a National Merit Scholar]]. And they don't mind [[{{KickTheDog}} shoving it in Todd's face]].

* {{Bromance}}: With Neil. The two are very close and it's established that Neil is Todd's only good relationship, at least at first.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Can hardly string two sentences together initially, is overlooked by most of Welton and the last to be pulled in to confess about the Dead Poets Society, as Nolan clearly isn't expecting any resistance. He ends up leading an all-out rebellion against Nolan to defend Keating, and half the class follows him. Whoops.

* GrewASpine: As the movie goes on, he becomes more confident; culminating in standing up for Keating in the final scene.
* NewTransferStudent: He's the newest student in the class from another prep school called Balincrest. It's explained in earlier script drafts and the novelization that he was rejected by Welton previously because his grades weren't good enough to be enrolled, so he had to attend there until he could bring them up.
* PuppyDogEyes: Can pull off the [[{{TheWoobie}} kicked puppy variety]] when he's scared or shy (which is most of the time). Best seen when Keating first tries to get him to speak in class, but quickly relents after Todd only offers a pleading look.

* ShrinkingViolet: At the beginning, at least, he seems to just be trying to blend in with the wallpaper half the time. Fortunately his friendship with the other Poets (Neil in particular) goes a long way toward making him a more confident person.

* TragicBromance: With Neil. Throughout the movie, the pair grow extremely close, confiding their family problems and comforting each other in trouble. Neil especially builds Todd's broken self-esteem, resulting in Todd becoming happier and more confident in himself. [[spoiler: Then Neil kills himself and Todd is left distraught and heartbroken.]]
* TheUnfavourite: Is clearly second-best to his successful, accomplished brother Jeffrey. A [[{{FreezeFrameBonus}} shot of the Anderson's family photo]] shows Jeffrey standing in the middle of his proud parents, while Todd is shunted off to the side. In the original script Todd states it outright.
--> '''Todd:''' When I was little, I thought all parents automatically loved their kids. That's what I believed...Well, my parents might have loved my brother but they did not love me.

* Beatnik: Has shades of this as he wears sunglasses, a barrett and plays the bongos.
* BrassBalls: As demonstrated with his "phone call from God" prank.
* TheCharmer: Not that he has much chance to be. He makes use of poem lines written by Shakespeare and Byron to seduce two girls he brings into the cave.

* {{Foil}}: To Richard Cameron.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Choleric.
* HiddenDepths: Generally the most thoughtless of the group and frequently teases the other boys. [[spoiler: However after Neil's death, he's the one who takes the lead comforting Todd and is savvy enough to realize the school will pin the blame on the Dead Poets Society.]]
* HotBlooded: Definitely the most reckless of the boys.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Charlie may be a rebellious young man, but he is within his rights to not throw Keating under the bus because he knows he isn't responsible for Neil's death, regardless of anyone who claims otherwise and is perfectly okay with getting kicked out of the school if it means sticking to whatever principle he has.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: As much as he likes to goof around and mouth off, he does care about his friends and protects the group even after painful punishment from Nolan. After Neil's suicide, he's expelled rather than selling out Keating, in contrast to Cameron, who immediately finks on the Society.
* LargeHam: Has his moments, and is clearly enjoying himself at the line "To indeed be a god!"
* TheMcCoy: After Neil's death, Dalton shows strong outrage at Cameron's selling out to the faculty and their honor code, punching Cameron for ratting out the Society.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Once he pulls off the "phone call from God" prank, Nolan starts to observe the students more cautiously, and as a result, Dean Nolan is aware of the Society's existence when Charlie is interrogated in his office under the compulsion of corporal punishment.
* RebelliousSpirit: His actions make for an interesting contrast with what Keating actually encourages. While the latter is trying to teach his students to think for themselves and be masters of their own lives, the former takes that to mean "rebel for its own sake, fight against authorities for fun." When Charlie nearly gets himself expelled for a joke, Keating calls him out on this misinterpretation. Still, when he "exercises the right not to walk" during the strolling lesson, Keating notes that he righteously "illustrated the point" by "swimming against the stream". Charlie may not actually misinterpret him but simply over-interpret. See also ItAmusedMe.

* UndyingLoyalty: Despite his careless attitude, he is extremely protective of his friends, refusing to betray them under a brutal beating and [[spoiler: being expelled out of loyalty to Keating]].

Member of Keating's class and the Dead Poets Society. Spends most of the movie attempting to win the love of local girl Chris Noel.

* TheCharmer: He is smitten with Chris and attempts to gain her love.

* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Phlegmatic.

'''Knox''': Shh, sh, Chris...\\

* LoveAtFirstSight: Struck dumb when he sees Chris for the first time.

* StalkerWithACrush: Yeah, he's nice, and he means Chris no harm, but ''still''. Following her to school? ''Really''?
* TwoFirstNames: Knox Overstreet.

* DirtyCoward: [[spoiler:He betrays his classmates and informs the authorities about their secret poetry meetings...just to save his own skin.]]
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He invites himself into a study group with Neil then makes fun of Todd before even meeting him.
* EtTuBrute: Turns out that the below trope is justified; people were right not to like him, since later he [[spoiler:''betrays everyone'']], worrying about being caught and upholding the school's honor code over his fellow students.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: He only gets included in the Society because he's part of the other boys' study group and is Charlie's roommate. It's obvious they wouldn't have included him if they had any hope to hide the Society from him, calling him a creep. For good reason: [[spoiler: He betrays Keating to save his own ass, facing expulsion if he doesn't uphold the honor code and be truthful in describing the Society's activities]].
* HateSink: Is a brown-noser, doesn't like anything the others do, is constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure things don't come back to haunt him, and [[spoiler:rounds it off by ratting on everyone to save his own miserable hide]]. Eventually, Charlie decks him hard enough to cause a nosebleed--[[CatharsisFactor and boy is it satisfying]].
* HonorBeforeReason: He spills the beans to uphold Welton's honor code over expulsion at the expense of Keating and the Society.
* TheInformant: When Charlie acts as the Society's unofficial spokesman and publishes an article saying that girls should be admitted to Welton, Cameron keeps a convenient, detailed record of everything that happened, which he eagerly uses to inform Dean Nolan of the Society's activities.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He doesn't care what happens to [[spoiler: Keating and the rest of the Society after telling the administration about it since he got off scot-free.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: When "Nuwanda" writes a letter recommending that girls should be admitted to Welton, Cameron tells Charlie that Dean Nolan will eventually find out who pulled the prank, which will lead to an investigation of the Society and its activities, which starts after Charlie makes a prank phone call claiming God told him that Welton should admit girls. Even the rest of the group agree that Charlie shouldn't have risked all their necks for his prank.
** Later, Cameron's suspicions are proven right after Dean Nolan can get no further information from Charlie. He takes a dim view of Keating's unconventional methods which go contrary to Welton's traditional values, which Nolan believes are firmly established and not to be questioned.

* SmugSnake: He [[spoiler: betrays the Society]] and encourages the others to do the same. When Charlie punches him, he gloats that [[spoiler: now Charlie is going to be expelled for sure.]]
* TheSpock: Cameron is the one who is even more reluctant than Todd to attend the Society's meetings as a non-participant, concerned about the faculty members finding out about the Society, which changes after Neil's suicide when he becomes the informant who upholds the school's honor code to avoid being punished by Dean Nolan.

%%* HollywoodNerd

* TheSmartGuy: Aced Latin and tutors Charlie in just about every subject, something that Charlie happily admits, calling him a genius.

* SmartPeopleKnowLatin: [[TheSmartGuy the smartest of the students]], tutors Charlie in Latin and also is readily able to translate "Carpe Diem."
%%* TeenGenius
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Pitts.

* TheGenericGuy: He doesn't have much characterization or a story arc; in fact, his comparative normalcy serves to heighten the unorthodox nature of his friends.
%%* GentleGiant
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Meeks.

The new English teacher and previous student at Welton. He inspires the boys to 'seize the day' and restart his old club, the Dead Poets Society.

* BlitheSpirit: He spends a lot of the time telling his students to "seize the day." EverybodyHasStandards, though: There is a difference between finding sense in your life and doing stupid stunts that will ruin it, and he calls out Charlie on how his pranks may have him suffer the latter.
* TheCaptain: Is not actually one, but his students call him "O Captain My Captain" at his suggestion.
* CoolTeacher: He teaches English and manages to fill his students with enthusiasm to study literature, especially poetry, and life in general.

* MeaningfulName: It couldn't have been coincidence that John Keating is a lover of poetry. As well as being close to John Keats, the -ing suffix usually implies a verb or an action. Thus, he's a more active John Keats by teaching poetry.
* {{Mentor|s}}: He's the one who taught the class to live out their lives and look at life at a different angle. Charlie in particular looks up to him so much that he'd rather be expelled than sell him out.
* ParentalSubstitute: Takes on a fatherly role for both Neil and Todd, as they're distant from their own AbusiveParents. He counsels Neil on finding his own way in life and standing up to Mr Perry; and encourages Todd to overcome his insecurities. In a deleted scene, Todd outright declares that Keating cared more about him than his parents ever did.
** On the other hand, Keating telling students to vandalize textbooks by ripping out their appendixes could hardly be considered actions of a responsible parental substitute. Neil feels disappointed when Keating urges him to talk with his dad, believing that Neil can do as he wishes at 18, which conflicts with Neil's dad saying that he can only do as he pleases once he has become a successful doctor and graduated from college. But it's possible that Keating never realized that Mr. Perry would be so controlling even if Neil went on to college.

* SaveOurStudents: He wants to get his students interested and make them believe that their lives matter and should be special.

* CorporalPunishment: He chastises Charlie's buttocks with a paddle after he plays a prank on the establishment, which is very painful since his paddle has holes drilled in it to make the blows more aerodynamic and swift.
* DeanBitterman: He is a stuffy old authoritarian who believes in physical punishment and uniformity and is against everything fun the boys do and especially Keating's unorthodox teaching methods.

* CharacterDevelopment: Early in the film, we see his classroom in action, with [=McAllister=] drilling the students through their Latin conjugations. At the end of the film, he's leading his students on a walk and uses the vocabulary to describe the world around them. This shows that some of Keating's teaching methods did rub off on him.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Of the strict conservative establishment that is the Welton teaching staff, [=McAllister=] is the only one who strikes up a friendship with Keating and even adopts some of his methods. When Keating is fired, [=McAllister=] takes the time to wave goodbye to him and appears genuinely saddened to see him go.

* ControlFreak: He wants his son to go to Harvard and become a doctor and won't let him do anything else.
* EducationMama: Is a pretty severe example of an education papa, making clear that he expects his son to follow the course he set for him until he's at least in his thirties, if not forever, and denying him anything at all that would help him blow off steam or maybe even help get brownie points with his teachers/when looking for work. Deconstructed HARD, as his ControlFreak attitude leads to [[spoiler: Neil's suicide]].
* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler:Is clearly distraught over his son's death. But he reminds us of the 'evil' part when he tries to attack Keating for it instead of accepting his responsibility]].
* FantasyForbiddingFather: Doesn't want Neil to have anything to do with poetry or theatre, and upon discovering that Neil is playing Puck in ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'', he goes utterly ''ballistic''. [[spoiler:He sends Neil to a military academy, but Neil is DrivenToSuicide before he can be shipped off.]]
* HateSink: Is abusive to Neil, completely crushes his dreams of acting [[spoiler:and [[DrivenToSuicide drives his son to suicide]]]], and even blames Keating for everything and solely focuses on ''his'' reaction to the events, [[NeverMyFault thinking himself blameless]].
* HonorBeforeReason: He is more concerned about his reputation, which has been tarnished when Neil commits to the play and makes the rumor true, and would rather have Neil fulfill his parents' wishes than risk being made to look foolish by a forged letter of permission.

* KnightTemplarParent: After Neil's death, he urges the Welton faculty members to conduct a thorough investigation of Mr. Keating and the Dead Poets' Society.
* {{Manchild}}: Ironic considering how strict he is. He throws his own versions of temper-tantrums when things don't go his way, [[NeverMyFault refuses to take responsibility for his own actions]], is annoyingly self-righteous, and has no form of humility. He's basically the adult version of a SpoiledBrat.
* MeddlingParents: He is so determined that Neil should become a doctor, he consults Nolan to discontinue Neil's future involvement with the school yearbook, forbidding Neil to speak in his own defense especially when he removes him from Welton after the play has concluded, only to be so blinded by his ambitious goals for Neil becoming a doctor, he calls for an investigation into Mr. Keating's Dead Poets Society's activities after Neil's suicide.
* {{Narcissist}}: Has definitive shades of this, being obsessive and possessive of [[spoiler:Neil's]] devotion to him and his future plans, seeing him more as a tool than as his [[spoiler:son]].

** Keating incorrectly surmises that Neil can do what he wants as soon as he's 18 years old, which is contrary to Mr. Perry's plans, telling Neil that as soon as Neil has graduated from medical school (when he reaches 25), only then he can experience freedom.
* ObliviouslyEvil: Mr. Perry seems to be a well-intentioned father who does care about Neil's well-being but because he really sees Neil as an extension of himself and his legacy, he just can't comprehend the real effect his actions have on his son.
* ObsessivelyNormal: Has already plotted out his life (becoming a doctor) and won't accept anything that deviates from this a single bit (including activities that could look good on his portfolio), even when Neil tries to defend himself by pointing out that he's an A+ student regardless. He can't even bother to label Neil's acting desire a hobby but rather an ''obsession'', and even with everybody in the theater giving Neil a thunderous ovation, he still makes a scene to drag his son away, can't bother to admit it was a good performance (even if he won't let him act again), and takes overkill measures to make sure Neil will never deviate from the goal he's made for him.

* PerpetualFrowner: He rarely smiles: when shaking hands with Dean Nolan, and greets the students before telling Neil that he and the Dean have decided that he should resign from the yearbook staff. Otherwise, his reactions to Neil's rebellious tendencies aren't very happy ones.
* VicariouslyAmbitious: He hopes that Neil will get to experience opportunities he never had when his son becomes a doctor, with his hopes and aspirations ending tragically and abruptly when Neil commits suicide.

* AbusiveParents / ParentalNeglect: Barely seem to remember Todd exists most of the time and neither care about his obvious anxiety and shyness. A deleted scene spells out how emotionally abusive Mr Anderson was:
--> Todd: ''"You know what Dad called me when I was growing up? "Five ninety-eight." That's what all the chemicals in the human body would be worth if you bottled them raw and sold them. He told me that was all I'd ever be worth unless I worked every day to improve myself."''
* {{Jerkass}}: Mr Anderson spends his little screentime berating Todd or barking orders at him.
* ParentalFavouritism: Much prefer their oldest son [[{{TheAce}} Jeffrey who was Valedictorian and a National Merit Scholar]] over Todd.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: They only appear in two scenes, but their influence on Todd is present throughout the film.

* OnlySaneMan: She's the only sensible one between violent, hot-blooded Chet and obsessive, romantic Knox; including telling Chet off for overreacting and pointing out to Knox that he doesn't properly know her.
* SatelliteLoveInterest: To an extent. Through no fault of her own, though, she just doesn't get much character development onscreen and is only really loved by Knox for her appearance. She even points this out to him when she goes to confront him at Welton, replying to his repeated insistence that he loves her, "You don't even know me!"

* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: When at the Danburry's party, he mistakes Knox for Mutt Sanders' brother when drunk, threatening him later on when Knox makes a move for Chris.

* DumbJock: Though probably smarter than one would think, as he had once attended Welton... before flunking out, as per Chris.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler: Is clearly distraught over his death. But he reminds us of the 'evil' part when he tries to attack Keating for it instead of accepting his responsibility]].

* JerkassHasAPoint: While Mr. Perry is a ControlFreak who unwittingly [[DrivenToSuicide pushes Neil to shoot himself when he crushes Neil’s dream of becoming an actor,]] when Neil is confronted about the forged letter, he has a point when he asks Neil how he ever expected to get away with pulling such an outrageous stunt.

* DecoyProtagonist: After his death, it becomes clear the true protagonist is Todd.
* [[spoiler:DrivenToSuicide]]: After his father forbids him to perform in the theatre and is forced to withdraw him from Welton, [[spoiler: he plays a lethal game of RussianRoulette]].

* ShrinkingViolet: He has trouble talking in class (or even one-on-one with the other boys) and avoids eye contact. He gets better, though.

* TheUnfavourite: To a devastating extent. His parents are frequently praising the accomplishments of his successful brother Jeffrey, who was class valedictatorian and National Merit Scholar.

* RebelliousSpirit: As seen below, he's more than willing to defy authority.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: For good reason: [[spoiler: He betrays Keating to save his own ass, facing expulsion if he doesn't uphold the honor code and be truthful in describing the Society's activities]].
** It's even made clear in the movie that the only reason he is a member is because, being Charles' roommate, they can't hide the meetings from him.

* TheSmartGuy: Charlie calls him a genius because he tutors his friends in every subject since he grasps the material rather quickly.
%%* SmartPeopleKnowLatin

* BlitheSpirit: He tries to bring life and free-thinking to the school.

* DeanBitterman: He is a stuffy old authoritarian who believes in physical punishment and uniformity.

* BerserkButton: He hates being talked back to or contradicted by Neil.

* FantasyForbiddingFather: His son has straight A's and is willing to study what his father wants him to do. Poor Neil still can't do any community theatre, nor will he be allowed to work on the school annual.
* HateSink: Compared to Nolan, who was only doing his job, Mr. Perry is just an unreasonable jerk and loser of a father.

Knox's love interest.

* SatelliteLoveInterest: To Knox. She doesn't have any other role in the movie than to be pretty and to be loved.
* TomboyishName: Her name is short for Christina, but she usually goes by Chris, which is often a guy's name.

!!Mr. John Keating
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/keating_5.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: ''"No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world."'']]
-->'''Played by:''' Creator/RobinWilliams

The new English teacher and previous student at Welton. He inspires the boys to 'seize the day' and restart his old club, the Dead Poets Society.

* BlitheSpirit: He tries to bring life and free-thinking to the school.
* CoolTeacher: He teaches English and manages to fill his students with enthusiasm to study literature, especially poetry, and life in general.
* FiredTeacher: He is kicked out after Neil's death.
* {{Foil}}: His unorthodox teaching approaches stand out in sharp contrast to the old-school traditionalist Dean Nolan.
* {{Mentor|s}}: He's the one who taught the class to live out their lives and look at life at a different angle. Charlie in particular looks up to him so much that he'd rather be expelled than sell him out.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: While Keating encourages his students to think for themselves and broaden their perspectives, he disapproves of them breaking school rules just for the sake of being rebellious. He approves of Charlie doing things as a clever way of going against the norm, but reprimands him for pulling his "phone call from God" prank and risking expulsion. As he tells the boy in an earlier draft of the script, Welton is far from a perfect school, but it still provides the students great opportunities that shouldn't be wasted.
* SaveOurStudents: He wants to get his students interested and make them believe that their lives matter and should be special.
* TheScapegoat: Welton and the Perrys blame him for Neil's suicide, when Neil's father was responsible for most of it. He also gets blamed for the boys restarting the Dead Poets Society, even though they did so of their own volition and he didn't know about it.

!!Neil Perry
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/neil_5_4.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: ''"For the first time in my whole life, I know what I want to do. And for the first time, I'm going do it."'']]
-->'''Played by:''' Creator/RobertSeanLeonard

One of Keating's students who decides to restart the Dead Poets Society. He has a strained relationship with his controlling father.
----

!!Todd Anderson

!!Charlie "Nuwanda" Dalton

!!Knox Overstreet

!!Richard Cameron

!!Steven Meeks

!!Gerard Pitts

!!Dean Gale Nolan
-->'''Played by:''' Creator/NormanLloyd

The headmaster of Welton.

!!George [=McAllister=]

!!Thomas Perry

!!Mr and Mrs Anderson

!!Chris Noel

!!Chet

* Too Good for This Sinful Earth: [[spoiler: He is one of the most pure-hearted characters throughout the course of the film, which makes it incredibly tragic when he commits suicide to escape his extremely controlling and abusive father.]]