Pinky and The Brain/Characters
Characters from Pinky and The Brain.
The Main Duo
The Brain
A genetically altered lab mouse with a large head who plans to - you guessed it - Take Over the World (OF COURSE!). Voiced by Maurice LaMarche.
Tropes associated with The Brain:
- Affably Evil: Definitely affable, but debatable in the "evil" part.
- Anti-Hero/Anti-Villain: Blurs the line between the two. He's constantly trying to Take Over the World, and has quite the flaws, but at the core, he's a good person and wants to change the world for the better by being in charge (this is supported by portraying real world leaders as narcissistic/incompetent/insane/mix of the three). And he's definitely a hero in comparison to Snowball.
- Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?: The Trope Namer.
- Berserk Button: While there's barely rage, there's two things he'll give priority to: saving Pinky, and stopping Snowball.
- Big Yes: One of his catchphrases.
- Cartoony Tail: He has a tail like a real mouse, except it is kinked in a way that it looks like stair steps.
- Cassandra Truth: Quite often, Brain will be forthright with people that he and Pinky are lab mice scheming to take over the world. Whoever he says this to thinks he's just joking around.
- The Comically Serious
- Cry Cute: Surprisingly enough, he has this quality, and happens on occassion, but poignantly.
- Deadpan Snarker
- Determinator: Hell yes. No matter how many times he fails, he will keep trying to Take Over the World.
- Ditzy Genius: He's undoubtedly a genius, but is severely lacking in common sense, which is his Fatal Flaw.
- Evil Albino/Heroic Albino: A mixed bag.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Well, not particularly evil, but still:
- His refusal to sell his soul for world domination in the Halloween Special.
- In one episode, he was willing to be a mascot and put an addictive on tobacco for his world domination plans, but quickly backed out when he sees children smoking.
- In general, he has many lines and scruples he won't cross to the point he doesn't need Pinky to act as a Morality Pet (most of the time, anyway)
- Gadgeteer Genius
- Grumpy Bear
- Heterosexual Life Partners: With Pinky, and he's aware of it.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: He'll try to deny it (keyword being "try"), but it's been clear he's a softie underneath his megalomaniacal behavior, and cares a lot more for Pinky than he'll ever admit.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Usually fails becomes something he did boomerangs on him, such as trusting Pinky with a crucial part of the plan.
- Insufferable Genius
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: To a T. He's usually a sarcastic, bitter and condescending megalomaniac; but at the core, it's clear he cares dearly for Pinky and has good intentions despite his ambitious behavior.
- Large Ham
- Little Guy to Pinky's Big Guy
- Living Emotional Crutch: For Pinky, and it's reciprocated.
- The Millstone: Sometimes. Not as much as Pinky, though.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Orson Welles. One segment even had Brain mimicking the "frozen peas" take.
- Possibly Maximilien de Robespierre as well. Very similar personalities and goals to take over the world.
- Noble Demon: Wants to conquer the world to make it a place of kindness, equality and happiness for all.
- Shorter Means Smarter
- Take Over the World: His main goal.
- Tranquil Fury: Even when pissed off (normally at Pinky's antics), he barely even raises his voice.
- Tsundere: Acts this way towards Pinky.
- Verbal Tic: Yes!
- Villain Protagonist: Could be interpreted this way.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Brain supplies all the vitriol, Pinky just thinks (rightly, of course) they're best buds.
- We Used to Be Friends: With Snowball, before their experiments took place.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: It's not often you get a character who wants to Take Over the World so he can change it for the better, but there you go.
Pinky
The Brain's dim-witted assistant. Voiced by Rob Paulsen.
Tropes associated with Pinky:
- Anti-Hero: Type I.
- Anti-Villain: He's only considered a villain just by associating with Brain.
- Big Guy to Brain's Little Guy
- Break the Cutie: In some episodes, he can get from Plucky Comic Relief to Woobie when required. The Christmas and Halloween specials get special mention.
- Bumbling Sidekick: Definitely, although Brain clearly trusts him as an assistant and see their association as a close partnership/friendship anyway.
- Cloudcuckoolander
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: When focused enough, he can come up with plans of world domination that actually WORK.
- The Cutie
- Dumb Is Good: Although when he's smarter than usual, he doesn't get any less good.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Often thinks to ask logical questions about the logistics of a plan. Brain will usually have thought of that himself, but points to Pinky for not needing to be prompted.
- Fake Brit: Rob Paulsen as Pinky.
- Genius Ditz
- Heroic Albino
- Heterosexual Life Partners: With Brain.
- Hidden Depths: He may be an hyperactive ditz, but has a strong moral compass, is very observant, and adapt himself very well in every environment.
- Interspecies Romance: With Phar Fignewton (a horse), of course, but also with a sealion and a pig in other episodes (unsuccessfully).
- Iron Butt Monkey
- Keet: Very energetic and hyperactive.
- Kindhearted Simpleton: In contrast to Brain.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Despite outward reluctance, he's definitely this for Brain. He clearly reciprocates this.
- Minion with an F In Evil
- Morality Pet: On the occassions Brain's megalomania gets the better of him.
- Nice Guy
- Official Couple: With Phar Fignewton, a horse.
- Only Friend: To Brain.
- The Dragon/The Lancer
- The Millstone: On occassion.
- The Pollyanna
- Tender Tears: When pushed enough.
- Too Kinky to Torture
- Verbal Tic: Narf! Zort! Egad! Poit! Troz!
- Villain Protagonist: Although he's not very much of a villain.
- Vocal Evolution: Pinky's speech impediment is more pronounced in the earliest segments.
Other Characters
Snowball
A hamster who was put through the same gene splicer as the mice and also schemes to Take Over the World, but does not intend on making it a better place like Brain would. As such, he is The Rival to the Brain. Was eventually changed back to an ordinary hamster in his last appearance. Voiced by Roddy MacDowall.
Tropes associated with Snowball:
- Brought Down to Normal
- The Caligula
- Evil Brit
- Evil Counterpart: To Brain, to the point he'll leave everything to stop him.
- Evil Genius: He's far more morally bankrupt than Brain.
- Faux Affably Evil: He can put a polite charade, but it's clear he's far worse than Brain.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: In the Halloween Special, he coerces Brain to go to Hades to save Pinky, only so he can take over the world himself in his absence.
- Killer Rabbit
- Knight of Cerebus: He's a legitimately dangerous threat, and things get serious whenever he's on the spotlight.
- The Rival/Rival Turned Evil
- Take Over the World: In a much more malevolent way than Brain, and Brain himself implies he's going to destroy it outright.
- We Used to Be Friends: With Brain.
Billie
Another genetically altered lab mouse that Brain sometimes romantically pursued, despite her being as ditzy as Pinky. (Does This Remind You of Anything?) Voiced by Tress MacNeille.
Tropes associated with Billie:
- Distaff Counterpart: To Pinky.
- Genius Ditz
- Love Dodecahedron: Between her, Brain, Pinky, Phar Fignewton and Snowball.
Phar Fignewton
A grey and white race mare (female horse) with whom Pinky fell in love in the segment "The Kentucky Derby". The relationship between them obviously Squicks Brain.
Tropes associated with Phar:
- Blue Eyes
- Interspecies Romance: With Pinky (a mouse).
- Nearly-Normal Animal
- Official Couple: With Pinky.
- The Voiceless
Roman Numeral 1 "Romy"
A clone of both Brain and Pinky created from their combined DNA. (Does This Remind You of Anything?)
Tropes associated with Romy:
- Cloning Blues
- Deadpan Snarker
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Romy's "birth" in the episode "Brinky".
- Interspecies Romance: With Pat "the Bunny" (a human).
- Mix-and-Match Man
Brain's Parents
Pinky's Parents
Tropes:
- Cloudcuckoolander: It's clear where Pinky gets it from... if anything, his parents are worse.
- Cross-Dressing Voices: Eric Idle plays both Pinky's mother and father.
- Hey, It's That Voice!: Eric Idle.
Pinky's "Sister"
Tropes:
- Companion Cube: "She's" a spool of thread.
Larry
A dopey chubby mouse with frizzy hair that sticks out in the sides like Larry Fine of the Three Stooges, he accompanied the duo during one of their schemes, he did little except constantly introduce himself and provide useless observations, eventually Brain tires of him and tells him to leave, he later joins up with Paul Simon. He was voiced by Billy West.
Tropes associated with Larry:
- Catch Phrase: "Hi there!", "Hello!", and "I'm Larry!"
- Furry Baldness
- Green Eyes
- Here We Go Again: Finally, Brain managed to get rid of "Larry", and be just a duo with Pinky again. Now it's time to take over the world, without Larry... and the scientist open the cage and introduced a new mouse, Zeppo. And Here We Go Again
- My Friends and Zoidberg:
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Brain: Tonight's plan is my masterpiece, Pinky... and, ugh, Larry. |
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Brain: It's all about teamwork. A special chemistry. The Yin and the Yang |
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Trudy
A black-haired mouse from the black and white Pinky and The Brain episode, "The Third Mouse."
Tropes:
Mousey Galore
Russian lab mouse and rival to Pinky and the Brain in "To Russia With Lab Mice".
Tropes:
Dr. Mordough
The scientist who built the gene splicer that turned Brain, Pinky, and Snowball into their anthropomorphic forms. Appears only in part 3 of "Brainwashed".
Tropes associated with Dr. Mordough:
The Evil Clown
Precious's confidant.
Tropes associated with The Evil Clown:
- The Dragon: To Precious
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": His name is never given. In fact, his name was shown only on Kids WB's website.
- Evil Clown
Precious
Dr. Mordough's cat who was the Evil Mastermind of the scheme the mice had to foil in "Brainwashed". Like the mice, she too gained brainpower from the gene splicer, but lost her feline beauty and swore vengeance on humanity as a result. Voiced by Nora Dunn.
Tropes associated with Precious:
- Cats Are Mean: Though originally averted.
- Green Eyes And Red Fur
- Partially-Civilized Animal
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge
Zalgar
A humanoid alien who scouts planets to eat the being with the highest intellect's brain, he attempts to steal Brain's after sending him an email promising to help him take over the world, after his defeat he decides to settle for Dick Cavett's. Voiced by Jeff Bennett
Tropes associated with Zalgar:
- Brain Food:
- Early-Bird Cameo: He originally appeared in the Animaniacs episode "Potty Emergency" in a sci-fi movie the Warners were watching.
- Little Green Men: His minions Synapse (Whose brain he's already eaten) and Neuron
- What Could Have Been: There were originally plans for him to have his own spin off.
Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain Characters
Elmyra Duff
The annoying redhead from Tiny Toon Adventures. She turned up to chase the Warners in one of their segments, but is listed here because of her being shoehorned into Pinky and the Brain. Voiced by Cree Summer. See Tiny Toon Adventures for her tropes.
Mr. Pussy Wussy
Elmyra Duff's pet cat.
Tropes associated with Mr. Pussy Wussy:
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Furrball.
Mr. Shellbutt
Elmyra Duff's pet turtle.
Tropes associated with Mr. Shellbutt:
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Tyrone Turtle.
Rudy Mookich
A fat slob who replaced Montana Max as Elmyra's love interest in Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain. Has the hots for Brain's occasional alter-ego, Patty Ann. Voiced by Nancy Cartwright.
Tropes associated with Rudy:
- Ambiguously Gay: He must be this if he's willing to fall for a mouse-haired girl who speaks with a clearly male voice.
- Expy (of Nelson Muntz)
- Replacement Love Interest
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He doesn't like Elmyra any more than Max did.
Vanity White
Tropes associated with Vanity:
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Vanna White.
Wally Faust
The seldom-seen antagonist of Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain, he is a man pursuing the mice to use in his own world domination schemes. Voiced by Jeff Bennett.
Tropes associated with Wally:
- Back to Pinky and The Brain