History Characters / DonQuixote

* BadassGrandpa: Dowplayed, as he's described as simply middle-aged, but many adaptations picture him grey-haired and wrinkled, if not downright ancient.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: When it's time to fight, Don Quixote's capabilities are underestimated by his opponents almost as often as he underestimates theirs. Some of them get beaten precisely through being caught off guard by how dangerous he is at dueling despite his hilarious presentation.

* CoolHorse: Played with. His owner thinks of the horse as such, while the reality is that Rocinante is a poor old animal who should be anywhere except with a loon like him. That said, even with all of his mileage, Rocinante is as surprisingly resilient as his rider and rarely fails in his war horse tasks. More famously, he is instrumental in Quixote's victory against the Vizcaian, because old or not, Rocinante still is faster and with more stamina than their opponent's mule.

* TheAllegedSteed: Like Rocinante, Rucio is old and tired, and suffers the aditional setback of carrying a substantially heavier rider by comparison.
* CoolHorse: In a way; Don Quixote is initially against Sancho having a steed of his own, as most squires of his books are portrayed as traveling on foot, but he eventually concedes because he considers a sign of distinction for him as a knight that his squire has his own mount.
* NoNameGiven: Played with. The animal is technically nameless, but Sancho refers to him as ''rucio'', an old Spanish word for a light-furred donkey. As the term is otherwise rarely used nowadays, modern adaptations in the need of a name for him often upgrade it to a proper name, calling him officially Rucio.

* ArmorIsUseless: Zig-zagged. His cobbled-together plate armor sometimes does protect him from slashes and weapon hits, but otherwise he still gets the crap beaten out of him by laborers wielding staffs and shepherds slinging stones. This is TruthOnTelevision, though - ancient armors struggled at stopping the kinetic force of blunt objects and missiles from passing through metal plate and breaking the bones underneath.

* ArmorIsUseless: His cobbled-together plate armor seems pretty worthless as protection, since he still gets the crap beaten out of him by laborers wielding staffs and shepherds slinging stones. The latter being TruthInTelevision, though - ancient armors struggled at stopping the kinetic force of a well-thrown a sling stone from passing through metal plate and breaking bones.
* BadassBookworm: Even if most of his knowledge is about books of chivalry and he is not as mighty a warrior as he believes, Don Quixote is still a very cultured man in a variety of fields (particularly philosophy, as his speeches on the matter are quite impressive) and an unambiguously talented fighter (he routinely beats soldiers and squires who by all logic should kick his ass).
* BadassGrandpa: Dowplayed, as he's described as middle-aged, but many adaptations paint him grey-haired and wrinkled.

* CombatPragmatist: Not overly, but he does attack people before they get ready to fight and capitalizes on mistakes and accidents.
%%* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass

* InstantExpert: For all his silliness, Don Quixote ''is'' a great swordfighter. Despite being just an amateur passed his prime, he wins a tough duel against a professional man at arms from Vizcaya (granted, Quixote wore armor and rode a superior mount, but his opponent was younger and much more experienced) and he usually only loses when overwhelmed by sheer numbers or attacked through means he cannot defend against (like sling stones or a windmill's pull).

* OhCrap: Has one when the Vizcaian squire gives him a good ''tajo'', but he recovers pretty fast, as expected of someone who thinks of himself as a knight.

* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: While he was gullible enough to believe Don Quixote's promises in the first place, he still posesses basic sanity and tries to stop Don Quixote from getting into trouble whenever he has a chance.

* SimpleMindedWisdom: The sharpest knife in the drawer, he is not, but still he can give out really wise statements. In fact, the laws he dictated during his short spell as governor of Barataria are said to be so good, they were still followed in the place long after he left.

* YourCheatingHeart: Fantasizes about marrying some high-born lady to improve his station, nevermind that he already has a wife and children back home, but of course no such opportunity occurs.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Subverted. His name was chosen by Don Quixote because it sounded cool to him, but it actually doesn't, at least in a classic sense. "Rocinante" means literally "one who acts as a ''rocín'' (work horse)," although Quixote apparently formed it from ''rocín'' and ''antes'', translating thus as "former work horse."
* CoolHorse: His owner thinks of him as such. The reality is... another. That said, Rocinante rarely fails in his task of carrying Don Quixote around and executing wild jousting charges for him, and is as surprisingly resilient as his rider. He also lends an important aid to Quixote in the battle against the Vizcaian because, old or not, Rocinante still has more speed and stamina than their opponent's mule.
* MoodyMount: Not usually, but has his moment.

* NoNameGiven: Played with. The animal is technically nameless, but Sancho refers to him as "rucio", which is an old Spanish word for a light-furred donkey. As the term is otherwise rarely used nowadays, modern adaptations with the need of a name for him opted to upgrade it to his proper name, calling it Rucio.

* BornInTheWrongCentury: Laments the decline of knighthood at the time the novel was written and wishes he had lived in the age described by his chivalric romances. This is actually a deconstruction of the trope, as he is operating from a very fantastic conception of those times instead of certain knowledge: the era of the knights and giants he worships never really existed.

* InstantExpert: For all his silliness, Don Quixote ''is'' a great swordfighter. Despite being just a relatively elderly amateur, he wins a tough duel against a professional man at arms from Vizcaya (granted, Quixote was armored and shielded, which the other guy wasn't, and also rode a superior mount) and he usually only loses when overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

* CoolHorse: His owner thinks of him as such. The reality is... another.

* UncattyResemblance: He is basically an equine version of his owner: an old, awkward creature in a task beyond his capabilities.

* ADogNameDog: Whenever Rucio is used as his name.
* NoNameGiven: Played with. The animal is technically nameless, but Sancho refers to him as "rucio", which is an old Spanish word for a light-furred donkey. As the word is otherwise pretty unknown nowadays, modern adaptations with the need of a name for him opted to upgrade it to his proper name, calling it Rucio.

* UncattyResemblance: Like Rocinante to Don Quijote, Sancho's donkey is an animal counterpart: he's shorter, stockier and less intellectual than his master (Rocinante in this case), as well as more hedonistic and grounded.

* BadassGrandpa: Dowplayed, as he's described as middle-aged, but many adaptation opt to portray him as one.

* InstantExpert: For all his silliness, Don Quixote ''is'' a great swordfighter. Despite being just an elderly amateur, he wins a tough duel against a professional man at arms from Vizcaya (granted, Quixote was armored and shielded, which the other guy wasn't, and also rode a superior mount) and he usually only loses when overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

* BadassBookworm: Even if most of his knowledge is about books of chivalry and he is not as mighty a warrior as he believes, Don Quixote is still a very cultured man in a variety of fields (particularly philosophy, as his speeches on the matter are quite impressive) and an unambiguously good swordfighter (he routinely beats soldiers and squires who by all logic should kick his ass).

* ArmorIsUseless: His cobbled-together plate armor seems pretty worthless as protection, since he still gets the crap beaten out of him by laborers wielding staffs and shepherds slinging stones.
* BadassBookworm: Spends all his time devouring books of chivalry to the point where he considers himself an expert on the rules of chivalry, and believes himself to also be a mighty warrior.

* BornInTheWrongCentury: Laments the decline of knighthood at the time the novel was written and wishes he had lived in the age described by his chivalric romances.

* TheDulcineaEffect: Don Quixote loves her even though he has never seen or met her before, and even though she doesn't exist. At one point he practically admits to Sancho that her role as his motivation to perform great deads is more important than whether she's even a real person.

* BadassGrandpa: Fifty years old at the beginning of the first book, he nonetheless takes it upon himself to risk his life in noble combat--or so he thinks.

* {{Foil}}: The complementing and contrasting opposite to his master in both body and temperament. While Don Quixote is a befuddled gentleman so obsessed with his ideals that he lives in a fantasy world, forgetting to eat, having no regard for his own safety, and thriving on hardship, Sancho is an unsophisticated farmer possessed of his sanity, governed by his own appetites and desires, is a bit of a coward, and wants the easy life promised to him as a reward.

A simple peasant farmer whom Don Quixote tricks into

* YourCheatingHeart: Fantasizes about marrying some high-born lady to improve his station, nevermind that he already has a wife and children back home, but of course no such opportunity occurs.

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[[caption-width-right:Don Quixote (right) with Sancho (left)]]

The title character of the novel, Don Quixote is a gaunt, middle-aged gentleman who, having gone mad from reading too many books about chivalrous knights, determines to set off on a great adventure to win honor and glory.

-> Don Quixote (to the right) with Sancho (to the left).

Alonso Quixano a.k.a. Don Quixote

Sancho Panza

Dulcinea del Toboso

[[folder: Alonso Quixano a.k.a. Don Quixote]]

* {{Badass}}
* BadassGrandpa: Is fifty years old at the beginning of the first book.

* BigDamnHeroes: Don Quixote tries to be this to several people, but it rarely works out.
* BornInTheWrongCentury

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass
* [[spoiler:KilledOffForReal: At the end of the book.]]
* KnightErrant: What he aspires to be.
* KnightTemplar: Albeit, unintentionally.

* WindmillCrusader: The TropeNamer.

[[folder: Sancho Panza]]

%%* TheSquire

[[folder: The Duke and the Duchess]]
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[[folder: Dulcinea del Toboso]]

%%* TheDulcineaEffect
%%* TheGhost
%%* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman
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[[folder: Gines de Pasamonte]]
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[[folder: Don Quixote]]

[[The Duke and the Duchess]]

[[Dulcinea del Toboso]]

[[Gines de Pasamonte]]