Labyrinth/Characters

Jareth the Goblin King
The antagonist of the film, and number one Fetish Fuel Station Attendant of the 80s fantasy films. Jareth is the Goblin King, and is summoned accidentally by Sarah Williams to take away her annoying little brother Toby. Sarah changes her mind, so Jareth challenges her to find him in his labyrinth within thirteen hours or he turns into a goblin. He is often the source for Female Gaze, which does help when he's waving glass balls around. "Sarah: Generous!? What have you done that's generous?
 * Affably Evil
 * Agent Peacock
 * All Take and No Give: In a twisted way, Jareth claims to be all give while Sarah's all take. It's not clear if he actually sees the situation this way or if he's just trying to mess with her head...

Jareth: Everything! Everything that you wanted I have done! You asked that the child be taken, I took him. You cowered before me, and I was frightening. I have reordered time, I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you! I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me. Isn't that generous?"


 * Big Bad
 * Bishie Sparkle
 * Bishonen: Officially becomes one in Return to Labyrinth.
 * Blond Guys Are Evil: Your Mileage May Vary on Jareth.
 * Crystal Ball: Jareth carries these around with them, waving them about, and can be used for Sinister Surveillance and to throw Sarah into a realistic dream.
 * David Bowie: Pretty much the reason why so many enjoy this film.
 * Dream Ballet
 * Eighties Hair
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Even the Guys Want Him
 * Everything's Better with Sparkles
 * Evil Brit
 * Evil Is Sexy
 * The Evil Prince: Or Goblin King in this case.
 * Female Gaze
 * Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: Just look at half the tropes in this list!
 * Foe Yay: Jareth has a thing for Sarah, a teenage age. See where this is going.
 * High Collar of Doom
 * Large Ham
 * Laugh with Me: Just before "Magic Dance" starts, he motions for his goblin minions to laugh with him.
 * Living Labyrinth
 * Man of Wealth and Taste: The character was explicitly designed to essentially be Satan as an irresistibly alluring rock star. Boy, did they ever nail that one.
 * Memetic Sex God
 * Owl Be Damned: Jareth can shapeshift into a barn owl.
 * Reality Warper
 * Slouch of Villainy: Jareth's prefered way of sitting on his throne.
 * Stalker with a Crush
 * Unlimited Wardrobe
 * Villain Song: Has several in the film including "Magic Dance" and "Within You".
 * Villain Love Song: "As the World Falls Down".

Sarah Williams
The Kid Hero, Sarah does not wish to grow up and prefers a fantastical, theatrical life and does a lot of LARP. She wishes her brother Toby to be taken away by the Goblin King and it actually happens. Sarah races off into Jareth's labyrinth to find her brother, using her wits and imagination to take on its various puzzles and oddball characters.
 * Be Careful What You Wish For
 * Cool Teacher: Becomes a teacher in Return to Labyrinth.
 * Daddy's Girl
 * Down the Rabbit Hole
 * Foe Yay: With Jareth.
 * Genre Savvy
 * Girls Love Stuffed Animals
 * Growing Up Sucks: Sarah starts off with this belief but changes her views over the film.
 * The Hero
 * The Hero's Journey
 * I'm Not Afraid of You: How Sarah defeats Jareth.
 * Kid Hero
 * LARP: Seen doing this at the start of the film.
 * Life Isn't Fair: Sarah says this a lot, but is scolded by both Jareth and Hoggle for thinking that way.
 * Make a Wish: It's doesn't go well.
 * Parental Abandonment: Sarah's mother left the family.
 * Pimped-Out Dress: Sarah's poofy dress in the ball scene.
 * Smooch of Victory: Sarah gives one to Hoggle, not that he wants it.
 * This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Sarah must face Jareth alone. Her friends ask why, but she replies "it has to be done that way".
 * Wicked Stepmother: Sarah sees her stepmother as this, although said stepmother does not wish to be.

Toby Williams
Sarah's baby brother who annoys her with his constant crying. She wishes for Jareth to take him away, and he does just that. Sarah then makes it her mission to save her brother before he is turned into a goblin. In Return to Labyrinth, he is now 15 and is asked by Jareth to become his heir to the throne.
 * Abusive Parents: Toby doesn't get on well with his mother.
 * Be Careful What You Wish For: Sarah's mistake costs Toby to be kidnapped.
 * Blessed with Suck: When he is announced as the new Goblin King.
 * Brother-Sister Team: Toby and Sarah are very close by the time of Return to Labyrinth.
 * The Danza: Toby is named after the child who portrayed him, the son of the film's creature designer.
 * Idiot Hero: In some cases.
 * Kidnapped by an Ally: Comes into play in Return to Labyrinth, when Toby and Jareth reunite many years after Jareth kidnapped him.
 * Ordinary High School Student: The manga describes him as this before his homework is stolen.
 * Tagalong Kid: Subverted, since most of the time he is in Jareth's care.

Hoggle
A grouchy dwarf who Sarah meets at the entrance of the labyrinth. She later steals his treasures and forces him to guide her on-and-off through the labyrinth. Being a self-aware Dirty Coward, he fears Jareth's wrath and follows the king's instructions, giving Sarah a peach which sends her into a dream trap. He later comes to her aid in the Goblin City battle, and is forgiven by Sarah.
 * Changed My Mind, Kid
 * Cool and Unusual Punishment: Jareth threatens to make Hoggle the King of the Bog of Eternal Stench should Sarah ever kiss him. She does.
 * Return to Labyrinth shows Jareth kept his word and made Hoggle the bog's ruler.
 * Dirty Coward: And he knows it.
 * Heel Face Turn
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Lovable Traitor
 * My God, What Have I Done?: After giving Sarah the peach.
 * My Name Is Not Durwood: A Running Gag where Sarah and Jareth repeatedly get Hoggle's name wrong, although Sarah gets it right eventually.
 * Samus Is a Girl: Hoggle was actually played by a woman physically, his voice done by Brian Henson offscreen.
 * The So-Called Coward

Ludo
A Gentle Giant of a goblin, Ludo is saved by Sarah from some of Jareth's minions and he becomes her companion. He is smarter than he looks, and can summon living rocks by shouting loudly.
 * The Big Guy
 * Dishing Out Dirt: With a loud roar, Ludo can summon an army of intelligent rocks which he uses to hilariously take out the goblin army.
 * Gentle Giant
 * Hulk Speak

Sir Didymus and Ambrosius
Sir Didymus is a fox-ferret like goblin who guards a Troll Bridge across the Bog of Eternal Stench. A chivralous and honourable creature, Sir Didymus loves battle and is the most courageous goblin in the labyrinth. His "horse" is actually a sheepdog named Ambrosius who does not share his master's bravery.
 * Blood Knight: Loves fighting.
 * Bring It: Sir Didymus' reaction to the goblin army when they have him surrounded.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Has a duel with Ludo when they meet and they fight to a draw. Afterwards he calls Ludo a Worthy Opponent.
 * Furry Confusion: Sir Didymus who looks like a fox or a dog, rides the normal dog Ambrosius.
 * Heroic BSOD: Somewhat has one when Sarah asks if she and Ludo can have his permission to cross the bridge. He is so shocked he has to think the situation over.
 * The Lancer: Support to The Hero Sarah. He's like the knight to her LARP princess.
 * Knight in Shining Armour: Acts chivralous and refers to Sarah as "Lady Sarah".
 * Lord Error-Prone: Sir Didymus is always under the belief a fight is going his way even if he is outnumbered or cornered.
 * Troll Bridge: And none may cross it without Sir Didymus' permission!

The Worm
A cute tiny blue caterpillar who Sarah meets in the film. He invites her into his hole to meet his wife and have a cup of tea, but then directs her to a path through the labyrinth.
 * Idiot Hero: He sends Sarah on her way into the labyrinth, but tells her not to go left but instead right, later saying to himself that she would've gone straight to the castle.
 * Spot of Tea

The Wise Man
An elderly goblin who is said to be the wisest person in the labyrinth. Unfortunately, it takes him a while to give his cryptic advice and it does not help with the Deadpan Snarker bird hat he wears. He then expects some sort of donation afterwards.
 * Badass Beard
 * Cool Hat: If you consider a rude talking bird hat cool.
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Deadpan Snarker: The Bird Hat.
 * The Obi-Wan / Eccentric Mentor: Has elements of both tropes.

The Four Guards
Two sets of identical twins who guard two doorways with large shields. They play a Knights and Knaves game with Sarah to pass through one of the doors.
 * Can Not Tell a Lie: Two of the brothers always tell the truth, and others always lie.
 * Knights and Knaves
 * Tag-Team Twins

The Door Knockers
A pair of animated door knockers who offer Sarah and Ludo a door to go through. One of them is deaf due to his knocker ring being in his ears, and the other in unable to talk since his ring is in his mouth.
 * Animate Inanimate Object
 * Door of Doom: Averted, since the doors (or at least one) lead to seemingly safe places.
 * I Can't Hear You: One of the knockers can't hear the other one and is quite grouchy as a result.

The Fire Gang
A gang of strange fire-red monkey-like goblins who approach Sarah and break into a random musical number. They can use Abnormal Limb Rotation Range and removes their body parts, even their heads, without dying. Things turn a bit wrong when they try to rip off Sarah's head.
 * Abnormal Limb Rotation Range
 * Big Lipped Alligator Moment: Their whole scene is considered a completely random event. But most of the events in the film are quite out of place, so its presence is justified.
 * Detachment Combat: Not that they do any fighting.
 * Head Turned Backwards
 * Losing Your Head
 * Playing with Fire

The Junk Lady
A strange elderly woman who visits Sarah in a replica of her bedroom, carrying a mountain of junk on her back. She attempts to fool Sarah into giving up on rescuing Toby, and seems to attempt to turn her into another Junk Lady by piling her toys on her. But Sarah claims that It's All Junk and escapes the illusion.
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
 * Evil Matriarch: Tries to fool Sarah, and in Return to Labyrinth uses Moppet as a slave.
 * It's All Junk
 * Rummage Sale Reject: In the literal sense.

The Goblin Corps
Jareth's army of goblins. Needless to say they're not very competent, but are vast in numbers. One uses a Humongous Mecha to guard the entrance to the Goblin City, ironcally named Humongous.
 * Humongous Mecha: The giant mecha called Humongous.
 * Laugh with Me: Jareth has to use this several times with his minions.
 * Million Mook March
 * Onrushing Army: On dinosaurs things.
 * Surrounded by Idiots: Poor Jareth.
 * Where's the Kaboom?: The living cannonballs and the cannon users are pretty rubbish, one cannonball asks "I hit something, yes?"

Moppet
A mysterious girl, polite and passive, Moppet wears a mask to disguise herself as a goblin. She becomes Toby's best friend and advisor during the story. She was a slave for the Junk Lady, but was hired by Mayor Spittledrum as his servant, but she slowly recalls her Dark and Troubled Past.
 * Cool Mask
 * Dark and Troubled Past: It is revealed that
 * Dark Magical Girl
 * Dark-Skinned Blond
 * Dream Within a Dream:
 * I Owe You My Life: Why Moppet works for Mayor Spittledrum.
 * Identical Stranger:
 * The Lancer: To Toby.
 * Les Yay: Moulin asks Moppet to dance at the ball.
 * Manic Pixie Dream Girl
 * The Reveal:
 * Stalker with a Crush / All Love Is Unrequited: She has a crush on Candelwic and asks him to dance at the ball, although he lets her down gently.
 * Stalker with a Crush / All Love Is Unrequited: She has a crush on Candelwic and asks him to dance at the ball, although he lets her down gently.

Hana and Stank
Hana is a stroppy fairy whose wings have been plucked after stealing money from the Flegworts. She is promised by Toby that he will get her new wings. Hana is accompanied by Stank, a miniaturised Ludo who acts as her horse, but has a disgusting hygiene.
 * Bittersweet Ending: For Hana when Toby is about to give her a present containing new wings, Stank eats it and sprouts wings. Hana just responds with a remark of "Close enough."
 * Broken Bird: Subverted, she became even more grumpy than she was when she had wings.
 * Meaningful Name: Hana is Japanese for "flower".
 * Our Fairies Are Different: The fairies in the film were described as just being a little rude, Hana is in a whole different league.
 * Team Pet: Stank.
 * Ungrateful Bastard: Hana lives unknowingly in the Flegworts' clothes shop and helped fix their clothes (in a Shout-Out to the Elves and the Shoemaker). The Flegworts leave her some makeshift clothes as a thank you, but Hana is so angry at this that she steals their money and has her wings clipped.

Skub
A little goblin who steals Toby's homework, luring him into the labyrinth. By the powers of Deus Ex Machina, he becomes the official chef for King Toby.
 * Deus Ex Machina: Skittledrum addresses the goblins looking for new servant for Toby, Skub offers to be a cook. Skittledrum rejects him, only for a goblin to run up and say the royal cook exploded, and the remains of her apron's name have left "Skub" on them. Skub gets the job.
 * Lethal Chef
 * Tagalong Kid

Mayor Spittledrum
The mayor of Goblin City, Pangan Spittledrum has Moppet as a servant having bought her from the Junk Lady. Whilst seemingly incompetent, he wants what is best for his fellow goblins. He is flabbergasted when Toby is announced as the next Goblin King, but agrees to work with him mainly due to Toby correctly naming him, which Jareth failed to do.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Monster Town: Where everyone is an Eccentric Townsfolk.
 * My Name Is Not Durwood: Jareth calls him the wrong names like he did with Hoggle.
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat
 * Permanent Elected Official
 * Ultimate Authority Mayor: The main source of authority in the labyrinth after Jareth.

Queen Mizumi
The Designated Villain of the manga, Mizumi is Queen of Cups and had a thing with Jareth years ago that left her as a Woman Scorned. She wishes to conquer the labyrinth by manipulating Toby's actions. She has two daughters, Moulin and Drumlin, and has water-based powers. Mizumi's most unique talent is creating Literal Split Personality creatures called Ablations, made from aspects of a person.
 * God Save Us From the Queen
 * Making a Splash
 * Meaningful Name: "Mizu" is Japanese for "water".
 * Tarot Motifs / Red Baron: Queen of Cups.
 * Truly Single Parent
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl: But older and evil.
 * Woman in White
 * Woman Scorned: Mizumi loved Jareth but was rejected by him. She later
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl: But older and evil.
 * Woman in White
 * Woman Scorned: Mizumi loved Jareth but was rejected by him. She later

Moulin
One of Mizumi's daughters. Moulin is a gloomy Bookworm who says little. She is accompanied by a Personal Raincloud named Nimbus, which can manipulate water. When it is revealed that, Moulin turns against her mother to aid Moppet.
 * Bookworm
 * Emo Teen
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Les Yay: Moulin dances with Moppet at the ball.
 * Making a Splash
 * Personal Raincloud: A living cloud named Nimbus, who is constantly producing rain. Moulin carries an umbrella to avoid getting soaked.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair
 * Personal Raincloud: A living cloud named Nimbus, who is constantly producing rain. Moulin carries an umbrella to avoid getting soaked.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Drumlin
Mizumi's other daughter. Drumlin is a Fat Girl with a more upbeat attitude than her gloomy sister Moulin. She can absorb the water her sister creates via Elemental Absorption, but gets larger everytime she does so, making her Blessed with Suck. She is really
 * Blessed with Suck: Quite literally.
 * Elemental Absorption
 * Fat Girl
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Making a Splash
 * Villainous Glutton
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair
 * Villainous Glutton
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair