The Mask (animation)/Characters

Stanley Ipkiss / The Mask

 * Acting Unnatural - Once he gets ahold of the Mask, it happens a lot.
 * Adaptation Distillation: Though much of Ipkiss' personality is the same in the beginning of both the comics and the movie. In the comics Stanley becomes more psychotic and abusive whenever he doesn't have the mask on.
 * Bad Liar - Somebody stole his pajamas!
 * Becoming the Mask: litterlally.
 * Beneath the Mask
 * Butt Monkey: weither it's the comic, the movie or the animated series, Stanley tends to get treated like crap by almost everyone other than his closiest friends. In the comic, that serves as his motive for revenge.
 * Chekhov's Gag - Stanley's favorite cartoons become the traits of the Mask (for starters, he spins like Taz).
 * His head even morphs into the Tex Avery wolf from Red Hot Riding Hood.
 * Cloudcuckoolander - The Mask personality.
 * Comically Invincible Hero - Again, with the powers of the Mask.
 * Heroic Comedic Sociopath - Except in the comics, where he's a straight-up Villain Protagonist.
 * I Have This Friend - Stanley claims to be friends with "The Mask".
 * Jim Carrey: His actor in the movie (in the animated series, Stanley is voiced by Rob Paulsen)
 * Large Ham: both as the Stanley and the Mask in the movie. In the animated series, Stanley is portrayed as a bit less hammy and more shy, but the Mask is still incredibly hammy.
 * Sexier Alter Ego - Note that he's not more physically attractive (unless you're into that sort of thing), but more confident and impulsive (and gets Reality Warper powers), and that's why he gets the Love Interest in the end.

Milo

 * Badass
 * Frank Welker: His voice actor on the cartoon series
 * Non-Human Sidekick
 * Team Pet - To an extent.

Tina Carlyle

 * Chuck Cunningham Syndrome - When the movie was adapted into a Saturday morning cartoon, Tina was never seen and her existence was not acknowledged.
 * Defrosting Ice Queen - Not cold, just a little aloof at first
 * Expy: Of Kathy, Stanley's girlfriend, from the comics.
 * Femme Fatale
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold - Starts out as a criminal, but reforms.
 * Ms. Fanservice
 * Shallow Love Interest - Becomes way less shallow by the end of the film.

Charlie Schumaker

 * Only Friend - Charlie does appear to be Stanley's only friend.
 * With Friends Like These... - He's not always good at being there for Stanley, see below.
 * ...Who Needs Enemies? - He'll drop a conversation with Stanley to talk to a pretty girl.

Lieutenant Kellaway

 * Butt Monkey / The Chew Toy
 * Hero Antagonist
 * Inspector Javert: In the cartoon, he's got a grudge. In the comics though, it's justified.
 * The Comically Serious
 * No Sense of Humor - See below.
 * Moreso in the comics, where he's trying to hunt down and stop an artifact that turns anyone who wears it into an unstoppable, psychotic mass-murderer.
 * Shout-Out - In the cartoon, he wears a brown raincoat, much like another TV police lieutenant with no first name given.
 * Straight Man - With almost no sense of humor.

Detective Doyle

 * Butt Monkey
 * Captain Obvious
 * Clueless Detective - Don't bother trying to give him a hint in Pig Latin.
 * He's even more clueless in the cartoon, making one wonder how the hell could he have passed the police academy.
 * Jim Cummings - His voice actor on the animated series
 * Plucky Comic Relief
 * Friendly Enemy - Tried to shake Stanley's hand after he saved the day.
 * Took a Level In Dumbass - In his initial scene at the bank, Doyle seems to be quite intelligent. By the time we see him at the park, he's suddenly a ditz and by the film's end he's a certified idiot. The cartoon made him even dumber.

Detective Lionel

 * Angry Black Man - Lionel turned into one when Kellaway/Big Head started fighting the police, and challenged Big Head to a fist fight.
 * Black Best Friend - Oh hell, Lionel is Kellaway's ONLY friend.
 * Black Dude Dies First - Subverted, as Lionel is one of the few people Big Head doesn't end up killing.
 * Canon Defilement - A rather odd official example- Lionel was completely ignored for the film and cartoon. Instead, they gave the role of Lt. Kellaway's partner to Doyle, a character so completely different it's not even safe to say he's based on Lionel.
 * Idiot Ball - Lionel challenged Big Head to a fist fight. This went as well as one would expect...
 * The Watson - He's not only Kellaway's partner, but one of the few people in the police force that Kellaway even trusts.
 * Token Minority - Lionel is the only member of the named main cast who's black.
 * White Dude, Black Dude - Subverted. With Kellaway and Lionel it's more "angry dude, calm dude"., respectively.

Mrs. Peenman

 * Butt Monkey: And how! Especially in the animated series (though, given how much of a mean old lady she is, Peenman is more of an Asshole Victim).
 * Hair-Trigger Temper
 * Jerkass
 * Tress MacNeille: Her voice actress in the cartoon series

Peggy Brandt

 * Face Heel Turn: In the movie, she turns Stanley over to Tyrell for money.
 * Going for the Big Scoop: In the cartoon.
 * Hot Scoop
 * Intrepid Reporter: In the cartoon.
 * Karma Houdini: In the movie, since was cut. She and Stanley became friends in the cartoon, on the other hand. But he never got over her selling him out.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: She disappears after Dorian wears the mask. Originally,

Dorian Tyrell

 * Big Bad: In the movie.
 * Domestic Abuser - Don't see too much in the movie, but it seems pretty obvious anyway.
 * Berserk Button - DON'T COME ANYWHERE NEAR HIS GIRL!
 * Hair-Trigger Temper
 * Law of Disproportionate Response - Get pushed around by the "Big Boss"... Blow up his Casino and everyone in it.
 * Unstoppable Rage - When.

Dr. Pretorius

 * Arch Enemy / Big Bad: Of the animated series.
 * Cyborg
 * Expy: He looks a lot like Eugene Rapaz, a drug dealer from the comics. Tone down the mohawk and replace the eye lenses with glasses...
 * Hammerspace: The tiny circular base of his head has the mechanisms to drive six small legs, a computer interface jack, various tools, a neural interface and circuitry, and one would assume a complex life support system to keep him alive without a body(albeit such a system may be meant for short term use as he's almost always attached to his robotic body).
 * Losing Your Head: When it happens, it grows spider legs!
 * Mad Scientist
 * Shout-Out: He shares his name with the mad scientist from Bride of Frankenstein.
 * Tim Curry: His voice actor on the cartoon.

Walter

 * Arch Enemy: In the comics.
 * The Brute: Moreso in the comics than the cartoon, where he was a mob hitman and enforcer.
 * The Dragon: To Dr. Pretorius in the cartoon, to the mob in the comics.
 * Implacable Man
 * Nigh Invulnerable: In the cartoon. In the comics he could be taken down with enough of a beating.
 * President Evil: A comic (likely based on the cartoon) had him running for Mayor of Edge City.
 * Self-Mutilation Demonstration: Just to be clear here- comic Walter can bleed, though it doesn't seem to really hurt him. Cartoon Walter is impervious to wounds. That said... in the comics he had a disgusting habit of cutting himself just to mess with people's heads.
 * The Voiceless