History Characters / TheBoxtrolls

'''Mr. Trout''': Yes. Those things, et cetera, et cetera, big words, chummy banter.

* WickedPretentious: He tries to pretend that he's of the upper class, but in all honesty he isn't as cultured as he pretends to be.

WickedPretentious: He tries to pretend that he's of the upper class, but in all honesty he isn't as cultured as he pretends to be.

[[folder:Mr. Trubshaw]]

* GoodParents: In the flashback to ten years ago, he's shown to be a good parent to Eggs [[spoiler: before he gave him to Fish to protect him from Snatcher. And even after ten years of SanitySlippage, he still has the capacity to listen to Eggs' plea for help and inspire him to inspire the boxtrolls to move past their timid nature.]]

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Jelly.

* PapaWolf: [[spoiler:He risks his life to protect his son from Snatcher through giving him to Eggs. Even after being off his rocker ten years later, he still goes out with the boxtrolls to save his son from being burned to death.]]

* LonelyRichKid: She seems to have no friends until she meets Eggs, and her parents are emotionally distant. This is especially true of her father, who is too obsessed with his NiceHat and fancy cheeses to [[NotNowKiddo pay her any mind at all]].

A pest exterminator obsessed with moving up in the world. After a baby boy is apparently kidnapped by the boxtrolls, Snatcher makes a deal with Lord Portley-Rind: in exchange for exterminating every last boxtroll in town, Snatcher will be rewarded a spot in Portley-Rind's inner circle and everything that goes with it: power, a NiceHat, and all the fancy cheese he can eat.

* NiceHat: He and his lackeys wear red hats, and his obsession with moving up in the world includes getting a spot on the White Hat council and a white hat of his own for wiping out the boxtrolls.

* AuthorityInNameOnly: He and his fellow White Hats. They appear to be the ruling body of Cheesebridge, but are obsessed with cheese and their {{Nice Hat}}s to the point that they neglect their duties to the city... and in his case at least, [[ParentalNeglect his family]].

* NiceHat: As a members of the White Hat Council, the ruling body of Cheesebridge, he wears a very tall white hat as a status symbol. The white hat is perhaps the only thing other than cheese that can catch his attention.

* GoodParents: In the flashback to ten years ago, he's shown to be a good parent to Eggs before he gave him to Fish to protect him from Snatcher. [[spoiler:And even after ten years of SanitySlippage, he still has the capacity to listen to Eggs' plea for help and inspire him to inspire the boxtrolls to move past their timid nature.]]

* WalkingSpoiler: As is obvious from the amount of this entry that's whited out, he is one. [[spoiler:It's hard to talk about him without revealing that he's still alive or that he's Eggs' biological father.]]

An orphaned human boy raised by the Boxtrolls.

* BreakTheCutie: Snatcher is fond of cheese and wants to treat the boy like a boxtroll.
* GadgeteerGenius: Shares a knack for tinkering with his adoptive family, the Boxtrolls. [[spoiler:He seems to have inherited it from his biological father, Mr. Trubshaw.]]
* HappilyAdopted: Even though he [[spoiler:is reunited with his biological father again at the end]] and having not known he was an orphan (or even a human) until Fish tells him a decade later, Eggs lives a very happy life with Fish and his adopted Boxtroll family and loves them all very much. [[spoiler:This causes him much sadness when Snatcher takes nearly all of them away.]]
* HasTwoDaddies: At the end of the movie, [[spoiler:he has now two fathers: Fish, his adopted one, and Mr. Trubshaw, his long-lost biological one. He's shown working with them.]]
* HeroicBSOD: When Fish -- the troll who raised Eggs for ten years; his adoptive father -- is [[spoiler:finally captured by Snatcher]], Eggs seem to shut down for a little while before ultimately deciding to [[spoiler:rescue him, thus finally taking action against Snatcher for the first time.]]
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: He briefly becomes convinced of this after his disastrous attempt to blend in with civilized people and Lord Portley-Rind's refusal to help.

* InterspeciesAdoption: He is a Cheesebridge orphan reared since infancy by the eponymous Boxtrolls, to the point that for a long time he thinks he is one.
* KidHero: He is the heroic character of the story, and he is young.
* MissingMom: In the course of the film, we are introduced to both his adoptive father [[spoiler:and his biological father]], but we never learn about the whereabouts of his mother. [[spoiler:Including in the flashbacks.]]
* NiceGuy: What Eggs lacks in social skills he more than makes up for in sweetness.
* NoNameGiven: We only know his adopted name, but not his original name. It may be Herbert Trubshaw Jr., since the Boxtrolls song says his fathers name as "Trubshaw Sr.".
* NoSocialSkills: Having been raised by the Boxtrolls, social standards are completely alien to him and he needs to have simple greetings explained to him.
* ObliviousAdoption: Eggs believes completely that he is a Boxtroll until Winnie shows him midway through the movie that he is a human.
* RaisedByWolves: He is a Cheesebridge orphan raised since infancy by the eponymous Boxtrolls, to the point he considers himself one of them... up until he meets Winnie, that is.
* UnkemptBeauty: The poor hygiene conditions in which he has lived do not make him any less adorable.

* ArentYouGoingToRavishMe: Winnie is enraptured by the nasty, violent legends her high-society parents try to shelter her from. When she first encounters the "[[NotEvilJustMisunderstood monstrous]]" boxtrolls, she thinks they intend to devour her flesh and drink her blood, and tells them (rather melodramatically) to do it quickly. When they turn out not to have any interest in her, she's quite put out.
* FieryRedhead: She's quite outspoken.
-->'''Winnie:''' You're the worst pick-pocket I've ever seen! Here! ''[tosses him a coin]'' Buy a book on how to be a better thief!

* GirlishPigtails: Wears her curly, red hair in pigtails.

* InSeriesNickname: Often called "Winnie".
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: As bratty and fetishist as she is, she helps Eggs to save the Boxtrolls.
* LittleMissBadass: She could defy a big, dangerous machine.
* LonelyRichKid: She seems to have no friends until she meets Eggs, and emotionally distant parents. This is especially true of her father, who is too obsessed with his NiceHat and fancy cheeses to [[NotNowKiddo pay her any mind at all]].
* NightmareFetishist: She is fascinated by all the gory tales of the boxtrolls and their rivers of blood... and very disappointed when they turn out to be untrue. In the end, she's seen performing a stage show about the confrontation with Mr. Snatcher [[spoiler:and rather gleefully describes how his he exploded into a cloud of guts and innards]].
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: She's outspoken, a LittleMissBadass and a NightmareFetishist. She also wears a pink robe and likes to dance.
* VocalDissonance: Her voice sounds far more mature than her youthful appearance would suggest.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Very much wants her father's attention and approval.

Eggs' adoptive Boxtroll father.

* GoodParents: Although he parents by Boxtroll standards (probably not bathing their children and feeding them bugs), Fish has been a very loving and caring father to Eggs.
* LovableCoward: Like every Boxtroll, Fish always hides and cowers in his box whenever there's any danger -- unless you harm Eggs.
* PapaWolf: Despite instinctively hiding in his box at any threat of danger, that all changes the moment his kid is harmed. For a brief moment we see an uncharacteristic display of aggressiveness from Fish, baring his teeth and growling at the Red Hats after they hurt Eggs. Though he's knocked out almost instantly, it's still an incredibly brave act for a shy little Boxtroll.
* ParentalSubstitute: For Eggs. Eggs indirectly calls the boxtroll his father at one point.

* AmbitionIsEvil: He is obsessed with climbing the social ranks by rounding up and exterminating all of [[NotEvilJustMisunderstood the boxtrolls]]. His obsession drives him to spread outrageous lies about the boxtrolls being [[EatsBabies savage, baby-eating monsters]], [[WouldHurtAChild threaten children]], [[BadBoss mistreat his lackeys]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking eat cheese despite his violent allergies to the stuff]].

* AxCrazy: [[spoiler:Post-VillainousBreakdown, as he rampages through the city.]] Not that he was really sane all the time.
-->'''Snatcher:''' I have been reasonable but I can be unreasonable!
* BadBoss: He refers to his lackeys as "Stooges" and threateningly confronts Mr. Pickles after he brings up his cheese allergy.
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Though he doesn't actually succeed in slaying the boxtrolls, and though [[PyrrhicVictory it causes his death]], he does get a white hat, and he does taste cheese in the tasting room in the end]].
* BewareTheSillyOnes: He looks like at first comical and funny, but it's clear that there's no extreme act he wouldn't commit in order to win, no matter how morally questionable it is. [[spoiler:We also finds out out that in the past he apparently killed Egg's father with a wrench. While he didn't kill him he kept him prisoner for years and drove him to madness.]]
* BigBad: Leader of the Boxtroll Exterminators.
* BodyHorror: Snatcher's "Cheese Fits" cause him to swell up horribly.
* ClippedWingAngel: [[spoiler:He gets a massive Cheese Fit that makes him look monstrous. Not only is it caused by allergies, but a single piece of cheese after kills him]].
* DaddyIssues: One part of his rant while bloated by cheese at his lair mentions how his father used to always tell him that if you work hard enough, you earn a White Hat, but said father still ended up with nothing prior to his death despite all his hard work. This might be a prime motivator in Archibald feeling he has to rise above the mediocrity of his status and get a White Hat.
* DeathByGluttony: He is obsessed with cheese-eating as a sign of status even though he has a violent allergy that causes him to swell up and develop a nasty rash. [[PostClimaxConfrontation At the film's end]], he blackmails his way into Lord Portley-Rind's tasting room and, despite already suffering from a nasty "cheese fit" after [[ItMakesSenseInContext landing on a giant wheel of Brie]], devours a sample of Portley-Rind's rarest cheese. After a DelayedReaction long enough for Snatcher to [[FeigningIntelligence feign cheese expertise]], a DistantReactionShot shows he messily exploded in a cloud of cheese-y mist.
* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:He gets done in by the accomplishment of his ultimate objective -tasting gourmet cheese in the White Hats' tasting room.]]
* DrunkOnMilk: Well, milk by-product at least; cheese makes him act like a surly drunk.
* EvilBrit: He's voiced by Creator/BenKingsley.
* EvilSoundsDeep: Particularly when DrunkOnMilk.
* FantasticRacism: Towards the Boxtrolls. He often refers to them as parasites.
* FatBastard: He has a disgusting pot belly and a personality to match.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He always act nice and polite in public and he's also a bit goofy at times. Too bad he's also a manipulative and unscrupulous psychopath once his true nature is exposed.
* FreudianExcuse: Hinted. He mentions at one point how his father used to always tell him that if you work hard enough, you earn a White Hat, but said father still ended up with nothing prior to his death despite all his hard work. This might be a prime motivator in Archibald's feeling that he has to rise above the mediocrity of his status and get a White Hat.
* GloryHound: Apparently his only reason d'etre is seeking fortune and fame at any cost.

* TheHeavy: He's responsible for almost every conflict in the plot.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He wants to become the most important man in the village and everyone around him is an expendable pawn.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:He meets the exact goal he wanted, and it ends up sucking for him big time.]]
* KilledMidSentence: [[spoiler:His last words: "Aromic, oakey, with an undertone of a mother's-- (''BOOM!'')]]
* KnightOfCerebus: Despite being LaughablyEvil, his ruthlessness and greed makes him a genuine dark and dangerous villain for a child's movie.
* LargeHam: His vocal inflections are rather bizarre and he tends to draw out words and shout a lot.
* TheLastStraw: [[spoiler:He is already bloated from falling in the remains of the Briehemoth. Eating one more piece of cheese caused him to explode.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: He lied to the citizens of Cheesebridge that all Boxtrolls are vicious murderous monsters when they were actually framed for a crime he effectively committed. He also took advantage on Lord Portley-Rind's love of cheese into making him believe that the Boxtrolls will come after said food next in order to convince him to give him a white hat if he'll kill all Boxtrolls in town.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Snatcher. Although the EmbarrassingMiddleName of "Penelope" dampens the effect somewhat.
* NiceHat: He and his lackeys wear red hats, and his obsession with moving up in the world includes getting a spot on the council and a white hat of his own for wiping out the Boxtrolls.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: At first looks like an humorous and eccentric EgomaniacHunter but he's also overly cruel and remorseless. Towards the end he even arrives very close to achieve his main goal.
* ObviouslyEvil: His name alone should fill you in. And if it doesn't, his spider-like movement and snake-like voice will.
* PaperThinDisguise: His "Madame Frou Frou" disguise doesn't really hide his true identity to the viewer. It's just him wearing a dress, a wig and lipstick. InUniverse, it fools everyone though.
* PlotAllergy: His severe allergies (he swells up from a tiny sliver of ''extra mild'' Cheddar) is part of what prevents him from joining the White Hats [[spoiler:and eventually leads to his KarmicDeath]].
* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler:The tasted cheese he eats at the ending causes his allergy (along with the rest of his built-up allergic reaction) to do him in]].

* SelfDisposingVillain: [[spoiler:His obsession with upward nobility and [[DeathByGluttony insistence on cheese-tasting]] despite his ''violent'' allergies causes him to explode into a cloud of nasty yellow mist.]]
* SlasherSmile: He shows this everytime he's gloating or he's truly happy.

* SocialClimber: The entire motivation for his schemes.
* TheSociopath: The only things that matter to him are power and greatness. Trying to exterminate a race of peaceful creatures and sacrifice children or everyone else he sees as a threat to his plans is not a problem for him.
* SoreLoser: [[spoiler:His reaction after his plan to obtain a White Hat fail? To go into a chaotic rampage endangering everyone around him and trying to obtain what he wants by brutal force.]]

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Subverted with cheese. He's incredibly allergic to the stuff, and the fact that he gives two different pieces the same description implies that he only considers cheese tasting as a show of status.
* TwitchyEye: Has one after Mr. Trout corrects him about everything "we've worked for" rather than "I've worked for".
* TheUnfettered: He's willing to committ a genocide of innocent little monsters and killing anyone who stands in his way if that would mean obtaining an high position in the society.
* VerbalTic: Snatcher has a habit of pronouncing words a lo-o-o-o-ong ti-i-i-i-i-i-ime for emphasis.

** He is correct when he says the Box Trolls don't aspire to be anything more than weak pests.
** During a pseudo-drunken rant, he gripes about how all Lord Portley-Rind and his fellow White Hats do is sit around and waste taxpayer's time and money on eating fancy cheeses, which is a startlingly accurate description.
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:After Eggs and Winnie reveals all his evil deeds to the population, Snatcher becomes furious and goes in a destructive rampage through the city, laughing maniacally in order to force Lord Portley-Rind to give him his hat.]]
* VillainousCrossdresser: He performs as Madame Frou Frou to spread fear of the boxtrolls.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Before [[spoiler:Eggs and Winnie reveal his lies]], he's shown to be rather liked in Cheesebridge, as the entire population sees him as their protector against the "evil" boxtrolls. At one point, the entire town pressures lord Portley-Rind into giving him a white hat.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: PlayedForLaughs. To the audience, his Madame Frou Frou disguise is very much {{Squick}}-inducing. However, InUniverse, several men are shown to find Madame Frou Frou very sexy.
* WouldHurtAChild: He has no qualms with attempting to kill Eggs on multiple occasions as well as Winnie when SheKnowsTooMuch.

Winnie's father, leader of the White Hats.

* AuthorityInNameOnly: He and his fellow White Hats. They appear to be the ruling body of Cheesebridge but are obsessed with cheese and their {{Nice Hat}}s to the point that they neglect their duties to the city... and in his case at least, [[ParentalNeglect his family]].
* BreakTheHaughty: Having Snatcher reveal himself outright to be Madame Frou Frou, nearly getting killed by his machine, and finally forced to give up his hat for Winnie's safety would do that to you.
* BerserkButton: Any harm to the cheese stores will get him pissed.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: At the start of the movie, Archibald Snatcher comes to his house in the middle of the night to tell him (falsely) the boxtrolls have stolen a child. He says it can wait till morning. Archibald then says they've broken into his cheese stores. He's instantly horrified, then promises Archibald whatever means he needs to protect his cheese. Highlights his disregard for human life, selfishness, and his unholy obsession with cheese.
* HeelFaceTurn: At the end [[spoiler:he's seen cheering Winnie on in her show. A far cry from every other appearance in the movie, where he ignores her unless she mentions cheese or his white hat.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: He ignores his daughter, uses funds for a children's hospital to build a wheel of cheese, looks down on everyone including his fellow white hats, and pretty much cares only about cheese. [[spoiler:He does indeed care about Winnie and gives up his white hat for her...after thinking it over and trying to weasel out of it.]]
* KarmaHoudini: Lord Portly-Rind doesn't really suffer any consequences despite being an awful father, a waster of taxpayers money, a possible adulterer, a {{Jerkass}}, and an idiot. [[spoiler:Unless you count having his white hat snatched from him and bumping into Snatcher's machine.]]

* NiceHat: As a members of the White Hat Council, the ruling body of Cheesebridge, he wears a very tall white hat as a status symbol. The White Hat is perhaps the only thing other than cheese that can catch his attention.

* SkewedPriorities: His EstablishingCharacterMoment has him brush off the (false) news that the boxtrolls kidnapped a child, then become concerned only when told they could get into his cheese stores. Also uses civic funds to commission a massive wheel of cheese instead of building a ''children's hospital''. In fact, his obsession with cheese [[ParentalNeglect puts a serious cramp in his relationship with his daughter Winifred]], and at one point blinds him to the fact that [[NotNowKiddo she's trying to warn him]] of the BigBad's evil plan.
* TooDumbToLive: He continues to belittle Snatcher and tries to get out of his deal with him even after Snatcher showed up ''while piloting a giant TripodTerror that could easily squash him''. [[spoiler:It comes back to bite him once Snatcher has his VillainousBreakdown.]]

* VillainOfAnotherStory: Let's make a list. He wastes taxpayer's money and time just sitting around eating rare cheese, completely ignores his daughter to focus more on his hat and cheese, spends charity money for a children's hospital on a large wheel of cheese that most likely only he and his other White Hats would have eaten, completely ignores Eggs' public confession, tries to get out of his deal with Snatcher, when it is revealed the [[spoiler:Boxtrolls are alive]] he flat out rubs the fact into Snatcher's face that he will never get what he wants, and even when his daughter was caught by Snatcher and he had to trade his hat to save her he tries to negotiate with him for something else. If Snatcher wasn't such a monster Lord Portley-Rind could have easily been the villain of this story.

[[folder:Mr. Trout, Mr. Pickles & Mr. Gristle]]

->'''Played By:''' Creator/NickFrost (Trout), Creator/RichardAyoade (Pickles) & Creator/TracyMorgan (Gristle)

Snatcher's henchmen. Trout and Pickles aren't bad men, and are in fact convinced they're doing Cheesebridge a service by getting rid of the "evil" boxtrolls (though Mr. Trout starts to have some doubts about this). The same cannot be said, however, for the vicious and sadistic Mr. Gristle.

* CurseCutShort: At the climax, Mr. Gristle lets out an [[OhCrap "Oh sh--"]] right before [[spoiler:he's crushed to death by the falling remains of Snatcher's TripodTerror]].
* FatAndSkinny: Mr. Trout and Mr. Pickles.

* FriendToAllChildren: Mr. Trout feels regretful for trapping Winnie so Snatcher can kill her. And after he and Pickles' HeelFaceTurn, they assist Winnie in keeping the white hat away from Snatcher through a game of keep away.

* FourEyesZeroSoul: Mr. Gristle

* MinionWithAnFInEvil: All three of them are, in different ways. Mr. Trout and Mr. Pickles start out [[WrongGenreSavvy convinced they're keeping the streets safe from "monsters"]] but growing increasingly concerned with their and Mr. Snatcher's actions as the movie progresses, leading to a HeelFaceTurn. [[AxCrazy Mr. Gristle]], on the other hand, lacks the intelligence to be capable of any form of calculated evil, just mindlessly destroying whatever Snatcher orders him to.

* ObliviouslyEvil: Mr. Trout and Mr. Pickles, who both believe they are the good guys. They waver throughout the movie, though.
* PintSizedPowerhouse: Mr. Gristle may be the smallest henchmen, but he's by far the most dangerous, from his relentless bloody-mindedness, not to mention a surprising deal of agility.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Mr. Trout as part of his character.

%%* TerribleTrio
* TokenEvilTeammate: Trout and Pickle show more disgust in following Snatcher's orders and the express remorse more than once. Mr Gristle is more willing to cause harm but seeing that he's a total psychopath with very little connection to reality is debatable if he's genuine evil or not.

A troll species that wear boxes as clothes and only come out at night.

* BenevolentMonsters: They are friendly monsters. They only collect human things to do machines for themselves.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Their first instinct when confronted to a danger is to hide in their boxes, even when hiding is useless and running would be a better option. Also, while they love each other, they also tend to shrug it off when one of them is captured and to resume going on with their lives.
* ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes: Their eyes glow at night. Comes in handy since they do their scavenging at that time.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Shoe, the second most prominent boxtroll, is snappish and greedy about his scavenges, but he's as friendly as the rest of his kind when it counts. He even tries to comfort Eggs when [[spoiler:Fish is captured]].
* FalseTeethTomfoolery: Sweets wears a set of human teeth he's attached to, although they keep falling out.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Sparky and Match, two boxtrolls who are always seen tinkering with a toaster.

The father of the child who was abducted by the Boxtrolls ten years before the events of the movie. He's said to have gone mad with grief and to have chased after the Boxtrolls, only to meet a grizzly end.

* OneHundredPercentAdorationRating: [[spoiler:ImpliedTrope. The townspeople clearly remember him as not the "Trubshaw who forgot to lock his door" but as "Trubshaw the inventor" after he reveals himself to be alive. He was revered enough by the townspeople for them to want to kill the boxtrolls for seemingly killing him and when it turns out Snatcher lied about Trubshaw getting killed by Boxtrolls, they immediately turn against Snatcher for this.]]
* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:After being Snatcher's prisoner for ten years, he's been left as a broken lunatic.]]

* GoodParents: He's shown 10 years ago, to be a good parent to Eggs before he gave him to Fish to protect him from Snatcher. [[spoiler:And even after 10 years of SanitySlippage, he still has the capacity to listen to Eggs' plea for help and inspire him to inspire the Boxtrolls to move past their timid nature.]]

* NiceGuy: [[spoiler:He saw past the Boxtrolls' appearance and regarded them as kindred spirits due to their shared love of inventing. And off his rocker he may be 10 years later, he still retains his kindness to the point where he inspires Eggs to inspire the Boxtrolls to escape and move past their timid nature.]]
* PapaWolf: [[spoiler:He risks his life to protect his son from Snatcher through giving him to Eggs. Even after being off his rocker 10 years later, he still goes out with the boxtrolls to save his son from being burned to death.]]
* PosthumousCharacter: He's said to have died 10 years before the events of the film. [[spoiler:Subverted when it turns out that it was a lie spread by Snatcher.]]
* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:Having been kidnapped and dangled upside-down with chains for 10 years straight "scrambled his noodles good." He gets a little better in the end.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Jelly.
* WalkingSpoiler: [[spoiler:It's hard to talk about him without revealing that he's still alive or that he's Eggs' biological father.]]

* SoreLoser: [[spoiler:His reaction after his plan to obtain a White Hat fail ? To go into a chaotic rampage endangering everyone around him and trying to obtain what he wants by brutal force.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: During a pseudo-drunken rant, he gripes about how all Lord Portley-Rind and his fellow White Hats do is sit around and waste taxpayer's time and money on eating fancy cheeses, which is a startlingly accurate description.

* VocalDissonance: For such a small child she has a very deep and mature voice who could be one coming from the mouth a 20 years old one.

* NiceGuy: What Eggs lacks in social skills he more then makes up for in sweetness.

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: Though he doesn't actually succeed in slaying the boxtrolls, and though [[PyrrhicVictory it causes his death]], he does get a white hat, and he does taste cheese in the tasting room in the end]].
* BewareTheSillyOnes: He looks like at first comical and funny, but it's clear that there's no extreme act he wouldn't commit in order to win, no matter how morally questionable it is. [[spoiler: We also finds out out that in the past he apparently killed Egg's father with a wrench. While he didn't kill him he kept him prisoner for years and drove him to madness.]]

* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler: He gets done in by the accomplishment of his ultimate objective -tasting gourmet cheese in the White Hats' tasting room.]]

* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler: The tasted cheese he eats at the ending causes his allergy (along with the rest of his built-up allergic reaction) to do him in]].
* RedemptionRejection: [[spoiler: "I ''have'' made me, boy. This is my ''destiny!''"]]

* SoreLoser: [[spoiler: His reaction after his plan to obtain a White Hat fail ? To go into a chaotic rampage endangering everyone around him and trying to obtain what he wants by brutal force.]]

* CurseCutShort: At the climax, Mr. Gristle lets out an [[OhCrap "Oh sh--"]] right before [[spoiler: he's crushed to death by the falling remains of Snatcher's TripodTerror]].

* HeelRealization: [[spoiler: It eventually dawns on Trout and Pickles that they're ''not'' the good guys, and all it takes to get them to rebel against Snatcher is an ArmorPiercingQuestion from Winnie.]]

* OneHundredPercentAdorationRating: [[spoiler: ImpliedTrope. The townspeople clearly remember him as not the "Trubshaw who forgot to lock his door" but as "Trubshaw the inventor" after he reveals himself to be alive. He was revered enough by the townspeople for them to want to kill the boxtrolls for seemingly killing him and when it turns out Snatcher lied about Trubshaw getting killed by Boxtrolls, they immediately turn against Snatcher for this.]]

* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler: Having been kidnapped and dangled upside-down with chains for 10 years straight "scrambled his noodles good." He gets a little better in the end.]]

* NotSoDifferent: Like Snatcher, he spends a lot of time wearing his hat and eating cheese with his three cronies.

* NiceGuy: [[spoiler:He saw past the Boxtrolls' appearance and regarded them as kindred spirits due to their shared love of inventing. And off his rocker he may be 10 years forward, he still retains his kindness to the point where he inspires Eggs to inspire the Boxtrolls to escape and move past their timid nature.]]
* PapaWolf: [[spoiler:He risks his life to protect his son from Snatcher through giving him to Eggs. Even after being off his rocker flash forward 10 years, he still goes out with the boxtrolls to save his son from being burned to death.]]

* NiceGuy: [[spoiler:He saw past the Boxtrolls' appearance and regarded them as kindred spirits due to their shared love of inventing. And off his rocker he may be 10 years forward, he still retains his kindness to the point where he inspires Eggs to ]]

* NiceGuy: Presumably, as he [[spoiler:saw past the Boxtrolls' appearance and regarded them as kindred spirits due to their shared love of inventing.]]

* FamousLastWords: "[[IronicEcho Aromatic... Oakey... With an undertone of a mother's]]--"

* KilledMidSentence: [[spoiler:His FamousLastWords: "Aromic, oakey, with an undertone of a mother's-- (''BOOM!'')]]

* FamousLastWords: "I have lost a ''lot'' of blood... [[OhCrap OH]] [[CurseCutShort SH--]]" [[spoiler: Mr. Gristle]]

* MinionWithAnFInEvil: All three of them are, in different ways. [[ThoseTwoBadguys Mr. Trout and Mr. Pickles]] start out [[WrongGenreSavvy convinced they're keeping the streets safe from "monsters"]] but growing increasingly concerned with their and Mr. Snatcher's actions as the movie progresses, leading to a HeelFaceTurn. [[AxCrazy Mr. Gristle]], on the other hand, lacks the intelligence to be capable of any form of calculated evil, just mindlessly destroying whatever Snatcher orders him to.

** His Cheese Fits induce rant at "Lord Portly-Rind" is quite acurate.

* VillainHasAPoint: He is correct when he says the Box Trolls don't aspire to be anything more than weak pests.

* YourCheatingHeart: Implied since he looks Madame Frou Frou with love even if he is a married man. Later regrets this after learning that Madame Frou Frou is actually Snatcher in disguise all the time; even says this word to word on it:
-->'''Portley-Rind''': (learning about Snatcher's lies) He lied to us, and to poor Madame Frou Frou! (angrily) SNATCHER-
-->'''Portley-Rind''': (in his Frou Frou voice) We could've been something special, but you've broken our agreement!
-->'''Portley-Rind''': Why is he talking about Madame Frou- (gasps in horror after realizing that Snatcher is Frou Frou) Oh my God..... I regret so much.

* YourCheatingHeart: Implied since he looks Madame Frou Frou with love even if he is a married man.