Porco Rosso/Marco Pagot
Voiced by: Shūichirō Moriyama, Patrick Harlan (JAL Dub), , Jean Reno (French dub), Michael Keaton (Disney Dub), Mattias Knave (Swedish Dub).
A former pilot back in World War 1, Porco Rosso was formerly a human man known as Marco Pagot until a curse transformed him into a pig, having become a recluse in the years that have gone by, Porco Rosso now partakes in freelance bounty hunting chasing air pirates and while he is undoubtfully very rough around the edges and a huge cynic due to years of being disillusioned by humanity, he's ultimately a good man at heart.
- Ace Pilot: Is famous for being an incredibly skilled pilot.
- Acrofatic: Played with; He's a pig, but he's no slouch when it comes to hand-to-hand combat.
- Bounty Hunter: Serves as a freelancer one hunting down sea pirates.
- Broken Ace: He's a skilled pilot, but his survivor guilt and cynicism left him as this.
- Chick Magnet: a pig he may be, but unloved he is certainly not. This is one pig who the ladies can’t seem to resist swooning over.
- Cool Plane: His red seaplane, The Savoia S.21, certainly qualifies as this.
- The Cynic: Has become incredibly cynical about humanity over the years to where it made him transform into a pig because of it.
- Dub Name Change: to Marco Rossellini in the English version.
- Experienced Protagonist: Porco was a World War I veteran.
- Expy: Porco is an amalgamation of different Humphrey Bogart roles, embodying the cynical, world-weary, Jerk with a Heart of Gold characters Bogart was typecast with.
- Forced Transformation: His transformation into a pig as a result of his disillusionment with humanity. Marco isn’t in any rush to get changed back. In fact, he’s sooner forget his own human face altogether.
- Friend to All Children: He's introduction scene sees him rescuing a bunch of kids from pirates.
- Humans Are Bastards: Held this mindset regarding humanity for a long time, to where it made him transform into a Pig because of it. His experiences with the goodhearted Fio though, made him reconsider this mindset at the end, feeling that there's still hope for humanity.
- I Work Alone: Ultimately prefers to do things alone and even by the end, despite his newfound friendship with Fio and her desire to be partners with him, he ultimately leaves her and has her go back with Gina, feeling his lifestyle is simply too dangerous for her.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's certainly rude and outspoken, but he's a good person and he doesn't kill other pilots.
- Kavorka Man: Despite being portly, literally turning into a pig, he's still a bit of a womanizer, and manages to win over both Fio and Gina's hearts.
- A Man Is Always Eager: Although he has a reputation as a serial womanizer, it's averted, as Porco only sees Gina as a close friend, and despite him telling the teenage Fio that "all middle-aged men are pigs" when he warns her that it's not a good idea to be alone with him on his island, he never makes a move on her, thinking that she's nothing more than just a kid who just wants to experience an eventful summer.
- Noble Fugitive: Zigzagged. He's wanted by the Italian government due to having deserted the Air Force, implicity due to his disgust towards fascist rule. ("I'd rather be a pig than a fascist.") Despite his contempt for fascism, he spends his days as a solitary creature of vice—fat, lazy, sexist, womanizing, greedy, you name it.
- Oblivious to Love: Despite having been married three times, Gina clearly has a thing for Porco, who only sees her as a close friend/informant. When Porco and Curtis' air to air duel devolves into a boxing match, Curtis tells Porco that he needs to chose who he loves more, Fio or Gina, because he can't have them both. When Porco says he doesn't love either one of them, seeing them only as friends, especially Gina whom he's known for years, Curtis literally beats into Porco the fact that Gina is in love with him, and has been waiting in her garden for him to reciprocate her feelings. During Fio's "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue, it's revealed that following them leading the Italian Air Force away from the outlaws after their duel, Curtis fled back to the U.S., while Porco went into hiding, and at the very end she mentions that Gina kept waiting for Porco in her garden, but as to whether he decided to go see her after coming out of hiding, Fio said it was a secret.
- Pig Man: Gets turned into a humanoid pig for unknown reasons.
- Sole Survivor: Of his old World War I squadron, as well as being the last of Gina's childhood friends.
- Survivor Guilt: He feels guilty for living when all of his World War I friends have died.
- Technical Pacifist: He will gun down a plane but refuse to kill the pilot.
- That Man Is Dead: He refuses to acknowledge his former life, to the point where he actually scribbled out the last picture known to exist of him from when he was a human.
- Tuckerization: His real name Marco Pagot comes from an Italian animator of the same name, who collaborated with Hayao Miyazaki on Sherlock Hound.
- Visual Pun: Invoked and discussed; Porco finds it more than appropriate that he looks like a pig these days.
- Was Once a Man: Porco Rosso used to be a human being, however, due to his disillusionment with humanity, he transformed into a pig. Though he briefly did turn back into a human at one point and it's implied that he has in the the ending as well if Curtis' comments are anything to go by.
Donald Curtis
Voiced by: Akio Ōtsuka, Greg Dale (JAL dub), Cary Elwes (Disney dub)
- Ace Pilot: Zig-Zagged. Reputedly the only pilot who can match Porco in combat. Although it was in part due to dumb luck, he is still the only one onscreen to actually take Porco down in a one-on-one dogfight.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Double Subverted. After losing the boxing match to Porco, his face is left with several bruises and missing teeth. It's later shown that his face is back to its handsome self in the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue on a poster for a movie he's set to star in.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: He finds Porco's red paint obnoxious, but his own palette is dominated by shades of blue.
- Eagleland: As "The American", he single-handedly represents all of American culture here. It's not a particularly flattering portrayal.
- Glory Seeker: Curtis is always looking for the next way to spread his reputation. He's won plane races, shot down Porco Rosso, and has eyes to become a famous Hollywood actor and eventually President of the United States.
- Graceful Loser: After finding out he didn't shoot down Porco, and couldn't convince Gina to go back with him to the U.S., he challenges Porco to a duel where if he wins he would marry Fio, and if he lost he would cover all Porco's debts. After running out of ammo, and Porco didn't shoot him down due to his one gun jamming, they land and the duel becomes a boxing match, where Curtis, literally, beats into Porco the fact that Gina's in love with him. After they knock each pother out, the referee determines Porco being the winner because he got up first. When Curtis comes to, he's a bit disappointed on loosing all that cash and not marrying Fio, and when he tells her he'll come back and properly ask to marry her next time, she tells him she appreciates the gestures, but "already knows my answer," heavily implied to be "no." As Curtis looks as Gina takes Fio in her plane, he tells Porco he'll help him lead the Italian Air Force away from the other fleeing outlaws. Also, during the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue, Fio mentions that Curtis went back to the U.S. and became a major Hollywood producer and actor, and fondly remembers his summer in the Adriatic Sea.
- Hidden Depths: Curtis is more than just a rowdy Ace Pilot. He has a creative side and has written a screenplay good enough for Hollywood to produce into a film.
- Large Ham: Being played by Cary Elwes certainly helps.
- Love at First Sight: For both Miss Gina and Fio. Porco calls him out on his behavior, claiming he's not worth loving because he falls in love with every pretty girl he meets.
- Noble Fugitive: Just as Curtis and Porco settle on a date for their air to air duel, the fascist government outlaws bounty hunting, thus making Porco a double felon, since he took down Sky Pirates to collect the bounty and he was already wanted for desertion from the Air Force, and Curtis also becomes a criminal since he was hired by the Sky Pirates to hunt down Porco. After losing the duel, which devolved into a boxing match, Curtis helps Porco lead the incoming Air Force aircraft from the scattering outlaws, and soon afterwards flees to the U.S., with a heavy implication that he would never return Italy, despite his fond memories, since he would've been arrested by the fascist government.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Inverted. Puffed up loudmouth Curtis is associated predominantly with the color blue, while the low-key and softspoken Porco is has an association with the color red.
- The Rival: To Porco.
- Shout-Out: He has plans to get into acting and then become President of the United States.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Zigzagged. While not unaccomplished or unskilled (the pirates haven't heard of him, but Porco has), he's not on Porco's level and the pig's lack of wins against Curtis are as much about bad luck as anything else. He's nonetheless more puffed up than his talents rightfully permit; Gina finds his presidential ambitions laughable.
Miss Gina
Voiced by: Tokiko Kato, Faith Bach (JAL dub), Susan Egan (Disney dub)
- As You Know: Gina relates about her dead husbands to Porco, who given his history with her would already know about her marital history. The way she does it, however, clues Porco in to how she's recently had confirmation that her third husband has died.
- Glamorous Wartime Singer: She regularly performs and sings in the bar of the hotel she owns. She's glamorous and beautiful enough that pilots for miles are entranced by her.
- La Résistance: This could be applied to her as she does look after Porco at the end, warning everyone of the Regia Aeronautica coming after Porco and Curtiss during their fight.
- Loved by All: Gina, who runs the restaurant on her own private island, is the idol of all the sea-plane pilots, and even the pirates will behave themselves in their presence.
- Ms. Fanservice: Is usually clad in flattering cocktail dresses and is really popular amongst male patrons.
- No Last Name Given: Gina's surname is never mentioned in the film.
- Stylish Sunhats: Though her appearance changes with every scene, she retains a wide-brimmed plain white sunhat.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Fio's Tomboy, being the Glamorous Wartime Singer to the latter's Wrench Wench.
Fio Piccolo
Voiced by: Akemi Okamura, Lynn Eve Harris (JAL dub), Kimberly Williams-Paisley (Disney dub)
- Child Prodigy: She is a talented plane designer and engineer at the young age of seventeen. Her grandfather even acknowledges that she is better than his sons.
- Fiery Redhead: She has her moments of this, especially given that she wants to fly and get in on the action as well.
- Loved by All: She quickly earns the love and respect of all the pilots, even convincing the pirates not to smash the plane she'd helped to rebuild by appealing to their sense of honor and asking them to fight Porco in the air, instead. As a war is about to break out, Porco hands Fio off to Gina, and the according to Fio the two became good and fast friends.
- Ms. Fanservice: There's a few moments, like when she strips down to her underwear right in front of Porco before going to take a swim. There's a few lines that also bring up how big her butt is.
- Nice Girl: Extremely pleasant, likable, and friendly.
- Plucky Girl: Despite being told she should stay out of things since she's a young woman, she still helps Porco out, even standing up to all of the pirates on Porco's island, getting them to back down and respect her.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Tomboy to Gina's Girly Girl, being a Wrench Wench to the latter's Glamorous Wartime Singer.
- Wrench Wench: She mainly works as a plane mechanic for her grandpa and her main role in the story is to make sure Porco doesn't fuck up his plane again. She's also shown to have potential as a plane engineer.
Mr. Piccolo
Voiced by: Sanshi Katsura, Clay Lowery (JAL dub), David Ogden Stiers (Disney dub)
- Catchphrase: He frequently tells Porco "don't be such a pig" when he starts complaining about how he intends to get Porco's plane fixed.
- Cool Old Guy
- Greed: Downplayed. He does seem to love money but it's not to a point where he'll put it over anything else.
- Mr. Vice Guy: He has a bit of a greedy side but otherwise is a likable guy who is a good friend to Porco and is a proud and protective grandfather to Fio.
- Papa Wolf: Don't touch his granddaughter.
Mama Aiuto Gang
Voiced by: Tsunehiko Kamijō , Reizō Nomoto, Osamu Saka, Yuu Shimaka; Brad Garrett, Bill Fagerbakke, Frank Welker, Kevin Michael Richardson (Disney dub)
- Expy: The leader's appearance and attitude seems to be based of off Bluto.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Porco is very dismissive of them being a threat and takes his sweet time dealing with them, the other pirate gangs don't want to be seen with them, and even the schoolgirls they kidnap aren't even remotely scared of them.
- Large Ham: Most of them, but most especially their boss; being played by the deep-voiced Brad Garrett certainly helps.
- Laughably Evil: If we can say they're that evil.
- No Indoor Voice: The boss; again, courtesy of Brad Garrett's delightfully over the top performance.
- Unfortunate Name: The gang name in colloquial Italian means "Help, Mama!"
- Would Hurt a Child: Subverted bigtime; they are not above holding children hostage, but they will not do anything to hurt them either.Thug: Boss! Do we have to take all fifteen of them?Boss: Yeah, it's not nice to separate them from their friends!
