The characters of Brand by Henrik Ibsen. Alternative Character Interpretation is always a possibility.
Brand
- Always on Duty: In the third act, he states that he has an obligation as a priest, putting his duties over the needs of his family. He goes through a lot of angsting over this, though.
- Badass Preacher: When he braves an impassable fjord in a storm, alone in a nutshell of a boat, with only Agnes to help him. Earlier on, he passes unsafe ice, making others cringe for him.
- Catchphrase: "All or nothing".
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Deemed to be one at the end of the play.
- Cosmic Plaything: Every time Brand resolves on something, the universe hits back at him.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His mother didn`t love his father - they married for money. Then, his father died early, and he witnessed his mother rob his father on his deathbed, to get a hold on all the money. Brand was so squicked by this, he left home as soon as possible, not returning until the second act - and his mother hadn`t seen him since he was a boy. To this, add the climate: The farm he grew up in was placed right under the glacier, sheltered from the sun. Einar points out that he almost never played with the others.
- Dead Pan Snarker: Brand snarks back a lot of times during this play.
- Determinator: If he decides on something, he will follow suit, until the bitter end.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: Especially when Gerd is around.
- Failure Is the Only Option
- Heroic Willpower: Lampshaded: "It is the will that counts. The will sets free, or makes you fall".
- Holier Than Thou: Brand triggers a lot of resentment in the start, flatly saying that the people around him just aren`t worth the bother.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: Brand honestly thinks it.
- I Choose to Stay: For the sake of his mother, later for the sake of the community.
- I Work Alone: Most of the way.
- Principles Zealot: To a T.
- Rebel Leader: In the fifth act, he comes out as this, leading the entire parish away to a better life.
- The Soulsaver: He tries, and succeeds with Agnes, and a starving man who killed his children out of need.
- Straw Nihilist
- What You Are in the Dark: Brand keeps his sacrifices to himself, making others interpret his actions in the wrong way. It backfires.
Agnes
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence
- Break the Cutie
- Heroic Willpower
- I Choose to Stay
- I Die Free
- Kill the Cutie
- The Lancer
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: In act I.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Gerd`s red.
- Undying Loyalty: to Brand
Gerd
- Action Girl
- Barefoot Poverty
- The Cassandra
- Cloud Cuckoolander
- Determinator
- Girls with Guns
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Agnes` blue.
Einar
- Grandpa God: He painted God that way.
- Foil: To Brand in the first act.
- Holier Than Thou: Even holier than Brand himself, when returning in act V.
- Knight Templar: When he returns in the fifth act.
Brand`s mother
The Bailiff
- Always on Duty
- The Antagonist
- Combat Pragmatist: He uses Blatant Lies to get the crowd away from Brand in act V. He has no qualms about it either.
- Comically Missing the Point
- The Ditz
- Literal-Minded
- Obstructive Bureaucrat
The provost
- Comically Missing the Point: of the entire Bible
- The Dragon: To The Dark Side, as Brand interprets him.
- Money, Dear Boy: The reason why he has the position at all.
- We Can Rule Together: He plays it straight.
The Beggar mother
- Barefoot Poverty
- Determinator: She is actually after everything Agnes can give her to clothe her child.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!