Rango/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Rango

The main protagonist of the film. He is a chameleon with aspirations for the stage and stardom, but most of all desires companionship. After being accidentally thrown out of his owner's car, he starts his journey towards his destiny.

Voiced by: Johnny Depp


"Well, I'm a man of many epithets. There's my stage name, my pen name, my avatar. I had a pseudonym once, but I had it legally changed. Nom the plume, I have a CB handle, I'm actually one of the few men with a maiden name..."

"I say we track this pipe back to its hydraulic origin and apprehend the culprits behind this aquatic conundrum."

  • The Sheriff
  • Took a Level in Badass: Arguably he does this after killing the hawk to some degree, as he's much braver after that than before and more clever. However, he gets a big one later when he returns from his Heroic BSOD and defeats Rattlesnake Jake. Very strongly proven when he stares Jake down and actually scares the crap out of him.

Beans

A ranch owner, this desert iguana found Rango and brought him to Dirt. She suspects that something has happened to the water supply of the town, that someone is throwing the water out into the desert.

Voiced by: Isla Fisher


Priscilla

A young cactus mouse (or, if you believe Verbinski, an aye-aye) in the town of Dirt. At first she dismisses Rango as "funny-lookin'", she grows to admire him near the end. She has her own pair of revolvers, seems a little too excited about violence and death, and likes to make fun of strangers.

Voiced by: Abigail Breslin


  • Badass Adorable: She's the cutest (or at the most, the least ugly) character in the whole movie, but she carries a pair of revolvers in her lunchbox.

"Can I gut-shoot someone?"

Tortoise John

He is the mayor of the town of Dirt, who appoints Rango as the sheriff after killing the hawk. He is the wealthiest citizen in Dirt, and is a polite gentleman to the townsfolk, supporting their wishes of a better life. Early in the film, he is the only character with access to the town's supply of water, which makes Beans particularly suspicious. He's also responsible for sealing the water from getting it to the town, which is part of his grand plan to construct a more modern city outside the borders of Dirt (implied to be inspired by seeing the Las Vegas cityscape), which would eventually make it obsolete and the townsfolk forced to move or to face death.

Voiced by: Ned Beatty


Rattlesnake Jake

"You got killer in your eyes, son? I don't see it."

A fearsome, ferocious desert rattlesnake with a gatling gun for a tail and the secondary antagonist. He is called the Grim Reaper and lauded by many as a ruthless killer who "doesn't leave a town without taking a soul." He secretly worked for the Mayor until near the end when the Mayor turned on Jake.

Voiced by Bill Nighy.


  • Badass
  • Beware My Stinger Tail: His rattle is replaced by an artificial machine gun made of revolver cylinders.
  • Big Damn Villains: Finishes off the Mayor in the end.
  • Cool Gun: It's part of his body!
  • Dragged Off to Hell: Tells Rango he'll do this if he ever sees him again. As a result of all the myth surrounding him, it's difficult to question if he can actually carry out the threat or not. Due to this and his character in general, the scene where he drags the mayor away screaming certainly has this vibe.
  • The Dragon: To the mayor.
  • The Dreaded: Just mentioning him freaks people out.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Upon his first meeting with Rango, one gets the distinct impression that he hates liars.

"Listen to me, you pathetic fraud..."

  • Fangs Are Evil: Comes with the territory of being a rattlesnake.
  • The Gunslinger: A cross between Type B and Type D. He can pump out huge amounts of fire from that tail, but he can also unleash a quick burst with uncanny accuracy and speed. He pops Wounded Bird from halfway across town based on nothing but the sound of Wounded Bird's gun cocking.
  • Hero-Killer: It's established that he killed the previous sheriff of Dirt, not to mention what Bad Bill says about him.

"Jake's the Grim Reaper, he never leaves town without taking blooming soul."

  • Knight of Cerebus: When he shows up, the tone takes a far more serious turn.
  • Large Ham: He has almost as much a flair for the dramatic as Rango, weaving threats of Hell-fire and damnation into his speech at every opportunity.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: To his "brother", Rango.
  • Ninja Pirate Robot Zombie: He's a cowboy rattlesnake with a gatling gun grafted onto his tail.
  • Noble Demon: He exhibits a disgust for treachery, underhanded tactics, liars, and seems to respect a hero of genuine strength, but he is a stone cold killer and has no sense of mercy.
  • Oh Crap: Inspires this reaction from pretty much everyone when he arrives. He gets one himself when he discovers Rango's eyes have changed completely and he's now willing to pull the trigger of the gun now pointed at Jake's face.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: His look like the Eye of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings.
  • Rule of Cool: His Gatling gun/rattle seems to have no realistic way of working (What is the firing mechanism for that thing?) other than that it is very cool.
  • Snakes Are Evil
  • Suck Out the Poison: Jake does this when he first meets Rango to taunt him, squirting venom out of his fang and offering it to him in a shot glass.

"Hello, brother. Thirsty?"

  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Though many would say this is what everyone else thinks of Jake, he is afraid of hawks, which is the only thing keeping him away from Dirt. Rango uses this to their advantage by having the moles form a shape of a hawk to fool Jake. It doesn't fool him for long, but it does make him waste his ammo. This is somewhat ironic, considering the trope's name.
  • Worthy Opponent: His opinion of Rango at the end.

"I tip my hat to you... One legend to another."

  • You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Not only does Jake give Rango a gun during their first meeting, he aims it at his own face for him and barks at him to pull the trigger, telling Rango that he doesn't have "killer in his eyes". Near the end though, Rango proves him wrong.

Waffles

Part of the posse. A horned toad with a simpleton personality and less than appropriate amount of teeth. Regarding to his official information, he writes "surprisingly bad haiku."

Voiced by James "Jim" Ward Byrkit


  • Abusive Parents: His father made him cough up marshmallows he had eaten the last evening for breakfast.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Although everybody (sans Rango, Beans and Wounded Bird) in the town could be considered this, Waffles is perhaps the most prominent example.
  • The Fool
  • Friendly Enemy: Acts as one towards one of the inbred rodents for a very brief moment, warning him that he's about to hit his head.
  • Kindhearted Simpleton
  • Man Child: Waffles has a childlike personality and matching intelligence.

Wounded Bird

Part of the posse and Rango's deputy. A Native American raven who is a quiet bystander and uses a crutch of some sort to help himself walk. His general information from the movie's website states that his tracking skills are legendary and that he's big in Finland for reasons unknown.

Voiced by Gil Birmingham


  • Captain Obvious: In the video game, it's almost impossible not to find it funny that he keeps repeating "I'm over here", "Over here, Rango" and "I'm here" while Rango is goddamn standing right next to him.
  • Collector of the Strange: In the video game, he gives Rango updates to his abilities by getting sheriff stars traded in return. Wonder what he does with those stars...
  • Deadpan Snarker: Slightly slips into this.
  • The Dog Shot First: Attempts to shoot Rattlesnake Jake during the final battle, but gets shot by him instead.
  • Forgot Flanders Could Do That: While he usually speaks in short and broken sentences, in the latter part of the movie he has lines in perfect English.
  • The Lancer: To Rango, sort of, as he names Wounded Bird to be his deputy.
  • Magical Native American: Parodied with his character.
  • Mysterious Past: His information in the movie website says that he's "big in Finland for some reason." There are no hints of this in the movie whatsoever, so one could only wonder how and why he's been to Finland and what he did there.
  • The Nose Knows: It sure does!
  • The Quiet One
  • Scarily Competent Tracker: He can smell blindness or if a person has a large prostate.
  • Shaped Like Itself
  • Terse Talker

Ambrose

Part of the posse. An owl of some sort, dresses like a gentleman and, according to his official information, is a professional gambler and can speak in 12 languages.

Voiced by Ian Abercrombie


Residents of Dirt

Bad Bill and his henchmen

The Armadillo

The Mariachi Owls

Rock-Eye the Toad

The Hawk

Mr. Johannes "Fluffy Joe" Merrimack III

Angélique

The Eyeball