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Characters from the Series
Jack Black/J.B./Jables/Hollywood Jack
Played by: Jack Black (Adult), Troy Gentile (Child)
Lead singer of Tenacious D and mastermind behind many of their schemes.
- Birthmark of Destiny: He has the word "Tenac" on his ass, naming their band "Tenacious D" after Kyle reveals that he has an ass-mark too that spells "ious D".
- Black Sheep: In the film, it is established that JB was a Heavy Metal loving kid with a penchant for swearing in a Fundamentalist Christian family.
- Large Ham: As over-the-top and hammy as you would expect from Jack Black Adam Westing.
- Mad Artist: Jack's ideas of finding ways of finding inspiration and rhythms for his songs come across as rather eccentric to say the least. Methods include: banging holes in the ceiling, subjecting himself (and Kyle) to freezing in his fridge and overheating via a steaming kettle, swallowing an incredibly long string to "purify (their) insides", drawing a pentagram on the floor with mustard and ketchup and drawing energy from it, and, most famously, breaking into the Rock and Roll History museum to steal the Pick of Destiny to harness its power.
- Rage Against the Mentor: When KB is ousted as a fake, JB is rightfully pissed.
- Scatting: Does this a lot when singing.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Jack is very enthusiastic in Tenacious D's rocking abilities, often inflating how awesome he and Kyle are as rock stars and will go to any lengths to make sure that the rest of the world realizes this. Whenever a situation deflates this confidence (like Kyle ceasing to cooperate in writing a song or when the Open Mic host says that they need to write better songs), he usually lashes out in frustration and takes huge leaps to try and fix it.
- Three Chords and the Truth: Jack pretty much plays simple power chords on guitar. But that's okay as KG usually plays lead, with Jack just providing fills and riffs.
Kyle Gass/K.G./Rage-Kage
Played by: Kyle Gass
Lead guitarist, backup vocalist and Straight Man of Tenacious D and mastermind behind many of their schemes.
- Birthmark of Destiny: When JB wants to name their band after a birthmark on his ass that spells out "Tenac", Kyle reveals that he has "ious D" one his ass.
- Fat Best Friend: While both he and Jack are out of shape, Kyle is way fatter.
- Jerkass Ball: In "Angel in Disguise", Kyle tries to seduce Flarna, a girl that Jack has been trying to ask out for some time. He claims that he did this because loved her, but he only found out about her the night before when Jack told him with he confessed his feelings over her to him and has only actually interacted with her for a literal minute. Even if they have the same "type" or whatever, that is seriously a dick move to do to your best (lets face it, only) friend.
- Mentor Archetype: In the first act of the film, Kyle acts as such to Jack. While at first dismissive of him, he takes Jack under his wing after "saving" him from a group of hooligans where he takes him under his wing. There he teaches him various "rocking tools" like the power slide and cock push-ups which actually helps them both later in the film. After he is found out as a fake, he fills into the quiet Straight Man role he is associated with.
- Mistaken for Badass: When Jack first meets him, he is blown away by Kyle's guitarist skills and begs him to take him under his wing. He takes the credit for "saving" him from a group of hooligans and convinces Jack that he is a famous pro that has worked with the greats.
- Prematurely Bald: In a flashback, it is shown that he had male pattern baldness when he was in grade-school. He tried hiding it with a hat then and tries hiding it with a wig in the first act of the film.
- The Slacker: When not playing his guitar on the street, he spends all of his time playing video games and watching TV while getting stoned off of his ass. He doesn't even pay for his own rent, his mom sending him rent checks monthly.
- Straight Man: While he usually goes along with Jack's crazy schemes, Kyle is usually the first to point out the flaws in his ideas (only to get ignored or verbally assaulted for his troubles).
Paul F. Tompkins the Open Mic Host
Played by: Paul F. Tompkins
The Open Mic Host of the bar that Tenacious D perform in. Jack and Kyle usually have him read out an intro they have prepared for him.
- Composite Character: In the film, he is revealed to be a sealed form of Satan, regaining his true form when Jack and Kyle leave the pick for him.
- His Name Really Is "Barkeep": In the film, even in the ending credits, he is only referred to as "Open Mic Host".
Flarna
Played by: Laura Milligan
A girl that Jack has a crush on in "Angel in Disguise." She loves clogging, spinal-piercings and Satan.
- Hollywood Satanism: She is totally into Satan. And that's all we know.
- Oblivious to Love: She doesn't even know Jack's name, let alone the fact that he has a huge crush on her.
- One-Shot Character: She only appears in "Angel in Disguise." She is never seen or mentioned again.
Captain Ed
Played by: Ernest M. Garcia
The owner of Captain Ed's Records and a veteran of the rock and roll industry.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: When Jack and Kyle walk away in a huff, Ed looks to the audience and explains the five stages a person must go through when confronting death (of a dream).
- The Cameo: Appears in the "Fuck Her Gently" music video as God.
- Jade-Colored Glasses: Having experienced the rock and roll lifestyle for himself, he tries to encourage Jack and Kyle to "let the dream die".
- Reformed Criminal: He apparently did time in a Russian prison.
- Seen It All: Having been a roadie to various bands in the past, Captain Ed have experienced thins that Jack and Kyle could only describe as "a cream-dream".I was in a band once. A couple of bands. Yep, I've seen it all. I drove a car into a hotel-room once. Had a three-way with a pair of Siamese twins. Ate an entire horse.
Sasquatch
Played by: John C. Reilly
The cryptid of perdition proven real with Tenacious D finds him by accident.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: He's the actual Sasquatch.
- Dreadful Musician: While at first the D are thrilled to find out that Sasquatch has a drum-set, they swiftly decide to evict him from the band (as gently as they could, mind you) on account of his being even more enthusiastic then they are with his instrument, and unable to keep time.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: In the series, Jack and Kyle meet Sasquatch in real life, even taking him on as their band's drummer for a very short period. In the film however, he makes his appearance as a part of JB's mushroom-induce drug trip. Considering the film is a prequel to the series, this is the first time either of them have met him.
Hank Richeler
Played by: Scott Adsit
A writer that moves next door to Jack and Kyle in "The Greatest Song in the World".
- Designated Villain: In-Universe. When Hank calls a police officer for Jack and Kyle's loud and disruptive behavior, they try and make it sound like he was the disruptive one and writes a song about how he was a "shiny demon" they defeated in a rock-off/wrestling match. Bizarrely, it works.
Lee
Played by: JR Reed
JB and KG's biggest fan.
- Loony Fan: Deconstructed and subverted. When he is first introduced in the series, it seems that he will be portrayed as such, pointing out many minor details about the band that one would not normally notice and doing an Offscreen Teleportation infront of them. When Jack and Kyle get a look at the website he made for them, they end up turning into his psycho-fans instead. By the time he comes home from work the next day, they've left him dozens of messages on his voice box, messaged all the hospitals in the area when he does not call back, somehow learn various personal details of him and break into his apartment to talk to him.
- Retcon: In the series, Lee first meets Jack and Kyle while the band was already formed and performing, having made a website of them on his own time. In the movie however, Lee first meets them when JB and KG first met by chance.
- Stalking is Love: Of the platonic variety. By the end of the band's Obsession Song about him, Lee admits that while it does scare him, he has never had anyone who cared so much about him, and the episode ends with Lee singing with them on stage about their friendship. Although JB takes pains to point out that he'll never be allowed to join the band.
Jesus Ranch Cult
Played by: Cynthia Ettinger, Mark Fite, V.J. Foster, Dave Allen, Kate Mulligan, JR Reed, Michael Rivkin, Jeronimo Spinx, Jim Turner
A Cult found in the middle of the desert which Tenacious D are driving through.
- Cult: A rare, non-sinister example. The followers are all Christian hippies that believe that one parts with a piece of their souls when they defecate, and that they need to bury their deceased bodies with all of their feces for their souls to be whole. Their leader Liggaguie admits that they are a cult and they spend time through singing and talent-shows. While generally peaceful and probably not the kind to brainwash, they do keep guns around and board up their doors when ask to leave by the County Health Department.
- Green Thumb: Because they keep the "collective leavings" of their members as part of their philosophy, their soil is very fertile, demonstrated with a potato the size of a human torso.
- Looped Lyrics: When they are asked to evict by the County Health Department, they stay in protest and spend hours singing the same song over and over.
Characters from the Movie
The Black Family
Played by: Meat Loaf (Bud Black), Cynthia Ettinger (Betty Black), Andrew Caldwell (Billy Black)
JB's family from Kickapoo.
- Abusive Parents: While it is never stated how well his mother treated him, his father hated JB for his rebellious streak and love for rock music, openly stating that his elder brother is ten times better than him and that Jesus loved him more.
- Fantasy-Forbidding Father: JB's dad beats him with a belt and warns him against becoming a rockstar, leading to his son running away from home.
- Properly Paranoid: His belief rock and roll comes from Satan and will corrupt his son. It seems like just him being a crazy fundamentalist but he ends up being right on the money.
- Reality Is Unrealistic: In real life, Jack Black was an only child to Jewish parents who encouraged his dream of becoming a rockstar. In the film, they are Christians that tried to do the opposite.
Ronnie James Dio
Played by: Ronnie James Dio
Rock and roll legend, Dio makes several appearances in Tenacious D's canon.
- The Cameo: Every role he plays when it comes to Tenacious D is usually just a cameo.
- The Chooser of the One: He appears to a young JB through his poster and tells him to run away to Hollywood and find his band. Many have theorized that this was actually Satan in a long-term plan to be reunited with the pick and unleash himself on the Earth.
Guitar Center Guy
Played by: Ben Stiller
An unnamed Guitar Center employee who tells the story of the Pick of Destiny.
- Path of Most Resistance: He took the time to learn Latin in order to translate the scrolls about the Pick of Destiny came about. When asked why he didn't just take it to a translator, he said that he didn't want the translator to know about it too.
The Stranger
Played by: Tim Robbins
A fellow hunter of the Pick of Destiny that JB and KG run into on their travels.
- Didn't Think This Through: He waits outside the Rock and Roll History Museum in order to mug JB and KG for the stolen Pick of Destiny, but it never occurs to him that his physical disability makes it possible for them to simply outrun him.
- Harmless Villain: When JB and KG refuse to give him the Pick after they successfully steal it, he threatens to stab them both with a knife. Because he can barely walk even with a crutch, and all he has is a small knife, he has no hope of catching them when they realize they can just run away. Then he ends up getting arrested for their crime, since he's the only one left at the scene and he can't outrun the police either.
- To the Pain: As he approaches the duo with the intent of killing them, he boasts about how he'll cut out their balls and eyes.
Satan
Played by: Dave Grohl (Film), JR Reed (Concert)
The Devil himself, Satan was defeated by an old magician and a blacksmith and banished to Hell. His chipped tooth was then used to forge the Pick of Destiny, a guitar pick that ensures the user's role in Rock n' Roll history.
- Big Bad: He orchestrated the plot of the movie to get back his tooth and regain his power.
- Cluster F-Bomb: He only appears in the climax of the film and he swears just about as much as JB does throughout the whole film.
- Composite Character: He is revealed to be Paul F. Tompkins the Open Mic Host's sure form, and is implied to be the "shiny demon" from the Tenacious D song "The Greatest Song in the World", given that both follow the "
Demon's Code". - The Devil Is a Loser: He can crank out a "fuckin' tasty" riff, and has magical powers, but in the end he still gets outwitted by Jables and defeated by his own attack. Then has his horn turned into a bong, to add insult to injury.
- Flaming Devil: He accepts that if he wins the rock-off he gets Kyle to be his bitch. He makes pretty clear that he intends on turning Kyle into his own personal sex slave.
- Louis Cypher: His human identity is the open mic host who owns a pretty gothic-looking nightclub. He may have been impersonating the guitar store clerk too.
- Made of Magic: His chipped tooth was fashioned into a pick that created Blues music and ensures its user's place in Rock and Roll history. When JB and KG turn his severed horn into a bong (e.g., the Bong of Destiny), it clearly has magical properties (though what it does is left in the air).
- Oh, Crap!:Oh, fuck! My fucking horn! Oh no...
- Rock Me, Asmodeus!: When JB and KG challenge him to a rock-off, he utterly curb-stomps the two in singing, guitar and drums.
- Satan
- Sealed Evil in a Can: When summoned by an old sorcerer in ancient times, he was banished back to Hell using his chipped tooth, unable to return to full-strength until he is completed. This later happens again when JB recites the same spell whilst holding his severed horn.
- Shock and Awe: His main attack is when he throws up the horns and shoots green lightning out of them.
- Sir Swearsalot: He drops as many f-bombs in his one scene as JB does in the whole film.
- Villain Song: He sings significant portions of the movie's song "Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)", with the parts that especially fit having him gloat about how evil and powerful he is as well as how he looks forward to raping Kage after taking him back to Hell once he wins the rock-off.
