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The Narrators
All Three
William, Jacob and Dotty are a trio of ravens who act as narrators, commentators and occasional comic relief.
- Ascended Extra: Combined with Composite Character. The three ravens do appear in the original book by Adam Gidwitz, but only in a very minor role as magical future-telling ravens, and without individual names or personalities. What the show does is combine them with the book's Lemony Narrator and give them their own plotline involving Forced Transformation, as well as making them distinct characters.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: As part of the entire Interactive Narrator schtick. They're aware of the audience and are constantly addressing them.
- Clever Crows: They're smarter than the average birds. Well... William and Jacob are.
- Deadpan Snarker: All three of them are pretty snarky, though Jacob is the most likely to insert some dry comment, and William is probably the one who gets the most creative with sarcasm.
- Forced Transformation: Jacob and William were originally humans who were cursed by the Devil to take the form of talking ravens.
- Morphic Resonance: Jacob and William look very similar as ravens as they did as humans.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Jacob, who is the most moral and most concerned about everyone's wellbeing is Nice; Dotty, who is friendly and cheerful but a bit of a Nightmare Fetishist driven by her impulses is Mean, and William, who feels bad for victims of suffering but insists there is nothing they can do, is In-Between.
- Interactive Narrator: Played with. For the first eight episodes, they follow the characters around to tell their story but never interact with them... only that it's made clear that they're really only recounting things that already have happened and actually can't change anything. Starting with the penultimate episode, they do start interacting with the characters and the story, but by now they've caught up to the present and don't know any more about what's going on than the characters do. While they try to keep up the narration, they struggle to do so — especially William, who isn't good at "working without a script."
- Lemony Narrator: They insert a lot of personality, snark and off-the-wall comments into the narration.
- Polly Wants a Microphone: They're talking ravens. Jacob and William can talk because they are really humans under a curse — but Dotty, who by all accounts is a real raven, talks just as well even if she's far less on-point than them.
William
- Voiced by: Scott Adsit
The primary narrator. Originally an actor, he's the one most dedicated to telling the story.
- Large Ham: For much of the series he appears as a Cold Ham, speaking dramatically and with plenty of flourishing but generally keeping calm and collected. It turns out, though, that his calmness is mostly a result of being detached from the action and knowing everything that's going on. The human William, who is a thespian and wannabe actor, is a Large Ham from the get-go — and in episode eight, when their story has caught up with the present and William no longer knows exactly what's going on or how it'll turn out, William the raven quickly reverts to the Large Ham tendencies he had as a human, being a lot louder, more emotional and more frantic. He blames it on not being good with improv.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: In the penultimate episode, despite repeatedly telling Jacob they're forbidden from actually helping or even interacting with Hansel and Gretel, William is the one who decides enough is enough and is the first to interfere in the story to save the kids from danger. It kind of doubles as a Heroic Sacrifice because he knows that breaking the rules means he'll be stuck as a raven forever.
- The Storyteller: The most clear-cut example of the three ravens. William is a gifted storyteller with a flair for the dramatic, and he's also the one who handles most of the actual narration and the one who keeps the story on track when Dotty goes off on a tangent or Jacob gets reluctant about the topics.
Jacob
- Voiced by: Ron Funches
The secondary narrator who is not only the most sympathetic to the plights of the characters but also the one who worries about potentially traumatizing the audience.
- The Heart: He's the moral core of the raven trio and the one who keeps trying to talk William into doing the right thing. Luckily, William finally listens in the penultimate episode.
- Nice Guy: He's one of the most wholeheartedly good characters in the series. Of the three ravens, he's the one most eager to help out the protagonists, even though he knows this would have negative consequences for himself. While William is the one who first pulls the Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!, it only happens after Jacob has several times insisted that they have to do something, and the moment William has decided to act Jacob is right there with him.
- Only Sane Man: He definitely has the most common sense of the three ravens. When William gets carried away with the storytelling, freaks out because he doesn't know what's going to happen, or says the wrong thing because he's not used to "working without a script," Jacob is the one who tries to bring him back on track. When Dottie gets too caught up in Nightmare Fetishist tendencies or her attention span lapses, Jacob will try to set her straight... or if he can't, just snark about it.
Dotty
- Voiced by: Erica Rhodes
Hangs out with William and Jacob as they tell the story, offering her own distinct commentary on things. Unlike the other two, she's an actual talking raven as opposed to being a human cursed to be one.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Dotty has a very limited attention span and will stop paying attention to what's going on or forget important details even after having been told dozens of times. A Running Gag of hers is that she keeps forgetting Jacob and William weren't always ravens despite being one of the very first things they told her when they met her and have repeatedly reminded her since.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Dotty's mind does not work like anyone else's. She's not very attentive, often focuses on the wrong things, draws the wrong conclusions and is so scatterbrained that she keeps forgetting that William and Jacob aren't real ravens and reacts with the same astonishment every time they remind her.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Roughly Once an Episode, Dotty will bring up a valid point that the other two haven't considered. When the other two ravens are flabbergasted about still being Ravens, Dotty states that the story isn't over because the family is still broken apart and that Johannes warned them of a great evil they haven't encountered yet.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Being a scavenger, she is more than thrilled to eat the corpses of dead people and is even seen snacking on someone's eyeball.
- Interspecies Romance: Dotty, the Nightmare Fetishist raven that she is, gets a huge one-sided crush on the dragon terrorizing and burning down the kingdom.
- Maybe Mundane Maybe Magic: It appears Dotty is the only non-magically cursed talking raven in existence judging by William and Jacob's first reaction upon meeting her and vice-versa. However, this could also be Dotty being more than just a special case given her constant forgetfulness and that there are no other ravens besides the trio to compare with.
- Meaningful Name: Dotty's name can either mean "eccentric" or "mad", both of which describe her all too well. Another meaning is "to be infatuated with" which details Dotty's obsession with the macabre.
- Nightmare Fetishist: She loves blood, gore and gruesomeness, and often tries to encourage William to focus more on it.
The Protagonists
Gretel
- Voiced by: Raini Rodriguez
The protagonist of the story alongside her brother Hansel.
- Action Girl: Quickly becomes one. Although she's more of a strategist between herself and Hansel, she still holds her ground many times and has no problems going up against the dragon later on in the story.
- All-Loving Heroine: Despite all she endures, Gretel still strives to be kind and help others. Her kindness is what makes the Warlock's mother realize the error of her ways.
- Badass Adorable: Like her brother, she is a cute young child, but has faced many dangers and is far more capable than she looks.
- Big Eater: She and Hansel have several enormous helpings of food at Mrs. Baker's house.
- Big Sister Instinct: She is older than Hansel by five minutes, and is extremely protective of him.
- Boyish Short Hair: Gains a much shorter haircut by the end of episode 2, symbolizing that she is older and tougher.
- Braids of Action: Prior to her Important Haircut.
- Brains and Brawn: Forms this duo with Hansel, being the Brains.
- Broken Bird: She and Hansel have been through hell to say the least and she's no longer as innocent and carefree as she once was. Even the Handsome Young Man can tell she's no ordinary girl and has seen a lot of pain.
- Cassandra Truth: In episode 7, she is the only person who knows the truth about the Warlock and desperately tries to convince the townspeople to stop him. Unfortunately, due to their missing memories, they don't believe her, and she is only able to set them straight after calling out the names of the forgotten girls.
- Character Catchphrase: "This is fine!" (Spoiler alert: It is almost always NOT fine.)
- Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: It's stated she didn't feel much when she watched the warlock get boiled alive, due to all the horrible things he did, as well as his betrayal of her trust.
- Fingore: She cuts off her pinky in the second episode and the next episode shows she is still sore from doing do.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: She's a young princess who wears dresses, plays with (pinecone) dolls, and likes cute boys, but also doesn't shy away from getting her hands dirty and is just as eager for adventure as Hansel is. She also had a Boyish Short Hair by the end of episode 2.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She's an All-Loving Hero with golden hair.
- Important Haircut: After the Time Skip in episode 2, she has gotten much shorter hair and appears braver and more confident.
- Little Miss Badass: She may be young, but she's not afraid to stand up for herself.
- Nice Girl: A very sweet and earnest girl.
- Sibling Team: Forms one with Hansel.
- Strong Family Resemblance: She looks a lot like her father while Hansel resembles their mother.
- Sweet Tooth: Like Hansel, she loves chocolate cake.
Hansel
- Voiced by: Andre Robinson
The protagonist of the story alongside his sister Gretel.
- Action Hero: He's a lot more prone to action than his sister, and will usually resort to jumping straight into a situation.
- All-Loving Hero: Like his sister, he is kind and helpful to everyone he meets. In episode 6, Johannes tells him that he couldn't possibly be a bad person, because even on the way to Hell, he was trying to help people and make their lives better.
- Badass Adorable: As the series goes on, he becomes more competent and heroic.
- Big Eater: He and Gretel have several enormous helpings of food at Mrs. Baker's house.
- Brains and Brawn: Forms this duo with Gretel, being the Brawn.
- Brainy Brunette: He has dark hair and skin, and proves to be clever and resourceful in his own way in episode 7 by tricking the Devil.
- Broken Bird: He and his sister have been through a lot, and it's clear he's hurting a lot more than he lets on. This is apparent in episode 7; while the demons are trying to torture him, he admits that he's used to pain after what he and Gretel have experienced.
- Fatal Flaw: He tends to think very little about the consequences of things, which have led to disaster more than once; most notably, in episode 3 when he is unable to control his greed and becomes a bloodthirsty wolf creature in the process.
- Forced Transformation: He is turned into a beast in episode 3.
- Genki Guy: A very excitable and energetic young boy.
- Greed: The main conflict of episode 3 is Hansel's inability to control his growing greed. Mother Tree warns the two of them not to take more than they need, but Hansel is repeatedly tempted by hunger and kills more and more animals until he has killed far too many. Ultimately, his greed transforms him into a wolflike beast, and he ends up slain by Lord Meister's hunting party.
- My Greatest Failure: He blames himself for nearly killing Gretel as a beast, and though he misses her terribly, feels it's best that they never see each other again. She forgives him when they are finally reunited again, and he is able to move on from his guilt.
- Nice Guy: He's always kind and cheerful.
- Sibling Team: Forms one with Gretel.
- Strong Family Resemblance: While Gretel looks more like their father, Hansel clearly takes after his mother.
- Sweet Tooth: Like Gretel, he loves chocolate cake.
Allies
The King and Queen
- The King voiced by: Eric BauzaThe Queen voiced by: Charlotte Wilson Langley
Hansel and Gretel's parents, rulers of Grimm. It is their act of cutting off their children's heads that cause Hansel and Gretel to run away from home, but they are implied to have a reason for it.
- Cowardly Lion: While the dragon is on a rampage through the kingdom, the Queen chooses to hide in a dresser instead of addressing the problem. Later on, she and the King also admit that it is far easier for them to let others fight their battles so they don't have to.
- Fat and Skinny: The king is fat and his wife, the Queen, is skinny.
- Parents as People: They are realistically flawed, being selfish and prone to guilt and cowardice, to the point that their own young children grow to act in more mature and responsible ways than either of them.
Mysterious Figure/Johannes
- Voiced by: Jonathan Banks
A mysterious hooded figure who has been following Hansel and Gretel since the start of their journey, and appears to know more than we, the audience, do.
- Dark Is Not Evil: His robes give him the appearance of a dark and evil sorcerer, but he is actually on the side of good.
- Gag Nose: He has a large bulbous nose that stuck out on an opening of a door of a tavern he was trying to get into.
- Good All Along: He first appears sinister, with Gretel not trusting him, but he proves himself to be on their side.
Mr. and Mrs. Bauer
- Mr. Bauer voiced by: Tom HollanderMrs. Bauer voiced by: Cari Kabinoff
- Perpetual Frowner: Mr. Bauer only ever wears a frown on his face, to the point that his wife has to paint on a smile.
The Bauer Children
- Adaptation Species Change: In the original fairy tale they were turned into ravens, not swallows. This was likely changed as the narrators were also former humans turned into ravens.
- Improbable Infant Survival: All seven of them manage to survive the dragon attack unscathed.
Lord Meister
- Voiced by: Adetokumboh M'Cormack
- Foil: He acts as one to Widow Fischer. Both of them took one of the twins under their ward, but while Fischer is much more loony and chaotic, Meister is a Control Freak obsessed with rules. Additionally, while Fischer insisted she wouldn't try to be Gretel's mother, Meister hopes Hansel will see him as a father.
- Hypocrite: Treats his rules with utmost importance, but has no problems breaking them himself. Hansel acknowledges how hypocritical this is, stating that if Lord Meister can break a rule, so can he.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's rather haughty and selfish and refuses to take responsibility when he causes Hansel to be sold to the Devil, but ultimately proves he cares about Hansel and even sacrifices his life for him.
- Never My Fault: When he realizes he accidentally sold Hansel to the Devil, he insists that it was really Hansel's fault, as he shouldn't have been in the library that night.
Widow Fischer
- Voiced by: Missi Pyle
- Character Catchphrase: "I'm a widow!", usually said to a man she finds attractive.
- Cloudcuckoolander: She is quite an oddball who enjoys talking to dead fish and using said fish as party decorations.
- Foil: To Lord Meister. At the same time that Lord Meister takes in Hansel, she takes in Gretel, but while Widow Fischer insists that she will not try to be Gretel's mother, Lord Meister wants Hansel to think of him as a father. In addition, Widow Fischer is a bit loony but acts responsibly when needed, while Lord Meister acts proudly and responsibly but is ultimately a poor authority figure.
- Happily Married: Shillingworth proposes to her in the last episode, and it definitely seems that they will be happy together.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: She's a quirky lady, but genuinely cares about Gretel and wisely advises her not to go to the deep dark woods to see the Warlock. Even she knows to get serious when the situation calls for it.
- Second Love: As her name implies, she is a widow who once loved someone, but by the series finale she has moved on and is getting married to Shillingworth.
Shillingworth
- Voiced by: Eric Bauza
- Beleaguered Assistant: He's one for Lord Meister, being a personal servant frequently told to perform ridiculous tasks.
- Happily Married: Proposes to Widow Fischer in the last episode, and it's implied that they will continue to be happy together.
- Second Love: For Widow Fischer.
Enemies
Mrs. Baker
- Voiced by: Nicole Byer
- Affably Evil: Mrs. Baker can be considered this as well, since she never drops her bubbly demeanor even while putting Hansel in the oven and revealing she wants to cook the children.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Unlike the original fairy tale, she survives being thrown into an oven only to fall out the window and into a candy cane spike.
- Eats Babies: She ate her own infant child.
- Fat Bastard: Is large and plump due to eating so many children.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: When she meets Hansel in Hell she constantly apologizes for her misdeeds. While he feels sorry for her, there's not much he can do given she is in a Self-Inflicted Hell.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How she meets her end.
Handsome Young Man (Unmarked Spoilers)
- Voiced by: David Henrie
A kind and charismatic young man whom Gretel meets in Widow Fischer's town and quickly becomes infatuated with. However, is he truly as perfect as he seems?
- Abusive Offspring: He treats his mother horribly, keeping her chained up in his castle and forced to work for him like a servant. She admits to having taught him everything he knows, but now that he's become so powerful, it's clear he has no qualms about abusing her. It’s also implied that he’s the reason his mother is missing an eye.
- Arc Villain: Of Chapter 4 through 6.
- Beauty Is Bad: He's a very good-looking young man, who also happens to be a power-hungry warlock who steals young girls' souls and uses them to fuel his magic.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Appears kind, helpful, and nothing but purely good at heart. It's all an act so he can continue luring in girls for their souls and keep the townspeople unsuspecting.
- The Charmer: He has the people of Widow Fischer's town wrapped around his finger, and girls especially are charmed by him left and right. It's all part of his act, helped by a bit of magic and manipulation of memories.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: He is boiled alive in a cauldron of snakes and oil as that is the only way to kill a Warlock.
- Dark Is Not Evil: He wears all black clothing, but seems nothing but a kind and decent gentleman. Averted later on, as he has actually been Evil All Along and is really evil as he looks.
- Evil All Along: Gretel discovers that he has been lying to her and everyone in the town, and is actually a warlock who doesn't care about anyone but himself.
- Evil Is Petty: He scares Greta and jokes that he "made her flinch".
- Evil Sorcerer: Turns out to be one.
- Fangs Are Evil: Briefly scares Gretel by turning his teeth into fangs.
- Faux Affably Evil: He acts earnest and polite with everyone around him, but reveals his true nature to be callous and cruel when there's no one around to manipulate.
- First Love: Implied to be one for Gretel, as it's unlikely she ever fell for anyone before him. It doesn't go well, unfortunately.
- Handsome Lech: A charming and attractive young man who gets along very well with ladies, but also hides a much darker and crueler side, given that his main goal is to lure in girls to steal their souls for himself. He also convinced two women that they were married to him (and they don't seem to mind when they find out).
- Haunted Castle: He lives in one in the middle of the woods, which Gretel finds off-putting. Inside, he also keeps a hearty number of torture devices.
- Honey Trap: Seduces girls (in a PG fashion) for the purpose of trapping them and stealing their souls to power his golden twine.
- Lighter and Softer: In the original fairy tale, he outright killed his victims but in the series, he subdues them and turns their souls into doves. Still imprisons them, but not kill them, as the girls he captured later return to their families alive and well.
- Manipulative Bastard: He manipulates everyone around him into thinking he's a godsent human being, charming girls and playing with the memories of the townspeople to make them believe he's performed dozens of heroic acts and could never do anything to make them mistrust him. It's due to his manipulation that he's been able to keep up his act for so long and never have anyone suspect a thing... until Gretel gets involved.
- Pet the Dog: After he is revealed to be a villain, Gretel spots him alone letting a bird land on his finger. He quickly notices her and makes a Nightmare Face, so it could have been him just trying to mess with her.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: He has pale skin and dark hair. While he is handsome, he becomes more of an Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette once his true nature is revealed.
- Really 700 Years Old: Revealed to actually be hundreds of years old thanks to using the magic of girls' souls to keep himself young.
- Vague Age: It's unclear how old he's supposed to be, at least physically. He appears to be in his mid-to-late teens, making him closer to Gretel's age, but is apparently old enough to be married (or convince someone they're married to him) and get hit on by middle-aged women like Widow Fischer. He is revealed to be hundreds of years old in actuality, but that doesn't take away the question of: How old do the townspeople think he is? Given how he screws with their memories they all might have different answers.
- Villain with Good Publicity: He is well-loved by everyone in the town, but only because no one ever sees the cruel things he does, and he's implanted false memories of doing so much good for the town that no one could ever think of questioning him, not to mention he's erased all their memories of the girls he's kidnapped. Naturally, when Gretel tries to convince the townspeople of his evil, no one believes her.
- Voluntary Shapeshifter: Seems to be a perk of being a warlock; he briefly pulls a frightening face to scare Gretel, sporting fangs and glowing eyes, but quickly turns back to normal.
- Walking Spoiler: He appears at first as a seemingly harmless and noble young man, but is quickly revealed to be a liar and a truly sinister warlock who is not at all what he seems. It's difficult to research his character without learning this.
Hell
The Devil
- Voiced by: Adam Lambert
- Affably Evil: The Devil remains cheerful and pleasant even when he is cursing people or sending them to Hell.
- Ambiguously Gay: Somewhat qualifies, as he is rather effeminate, speaks in a higher voice, and is voiced by the openly gay Adam Lambert.
- Beware the Silly Ones: He is over-the-top and flamboyant but he is still a powerful supernatural entity. Even when he was trapped on a ferry boat, he still manages to kill Johannes.
- Big Red Devil: He has horns, a goatee, and a pitchfork, but is green rather than red.
- Blind Without 'Em: He can barely see without his glasses, which Hansel uses to trick him into thinking he is his grandmother.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: His grandmother constantly dotes on him and he returns the affection. That being said, when he is fooled by Hansel disguised as his grandmother, after Hansel plucks his hairs he threatens to use his intestines as jump rope.
- Flaming Devil: He has a very flamboyant and camp personality.
- For the Evulz: There’s really no rhyme or reason to what he does, he’s just The Devil.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Has a pair of spectacles.
- Green and Mean: He is a demon with green skin
- Hoist by His Own Petard: He is trapped on a ferry boat due to a curse he placed on the former victim. He laments he should have made a loophole where it doesn't affect him.
- Kick the Dog: He ruined a chocolate fountain and a golden apple tree, as well as placing a curse on a man to make him the ferryman of the dead all for kicks.
- Lean and Mean: Is rail-thin and the devil himself.
- Perfectly Cromulent Word: Fond of saying odd versions of words seemingly because it’s an evil thing to do.
- Pet the Dog: His grandmother notes that he doesn't hate kittens, but he doesn't want anyone to know about that.
- Sinister Schnoz: He has a large hooked nose.
- Strange-Syntax Speaker: He deliberately elongates words and says them wrong (such as saying "exhausterating" instead of "exhausting") because, in his own words, it is "more evil" to do so.
The Devil's Grandmother
- Dreadful Musician: Her singing is awful wailing that Hansel finds difficult to hear, but the Devil somehow loves it and falls asleep to the sound of it.
- Good Is Bad And Bad Is Good: She resents being called "good" even in a non-moral context.
- Villainous Friendship: Strikes one with Ms. Baker at the end of the series as they both like eating babies.
