Charlie

Charlie Background information Feature films Rio 2 Shorts Novelization Video games Voice N/A (does not speak) Character information Species Northern Tamandua Gender Male Alias Insect-eating idiot (r. by Nigel) Occupation Feather/Hair/ Skin color Beige and brown body Eyes Brown Friends Nigel (formerly) Gabi (formerly) Enemies Blu (presumably formerly) Jewel (presumably formerly) Fate Living Likes Dislikes Quote N/A

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Charlie is the (former) quaternary antagonist of Rio 2. He is a non-speaking anteater and one of Nigel's former henchmen. He was forced to tap dance for tourists until Nigel freed him. He will do almost anything for ants (red ants make him crazy).

Appearance

Charlie wears a bowler hat and a bow tie, and the darker patch of his fur resembles a vest.

Bio

The third member of Team Nigel is Charlie, a mute, tap-dancing anteater. He was forced by his owner to tap dance for tourists until Nigel freed him. Nigel uses him as a form of transportation, riding on his back when he escapes the street fair with Gabi. He obeys Nigel's whims because he was promised all the ants he could eat, but was usually denied them because Nigel was too busy planning his revenge to care about Charlie's hunger. His tongue is very long and proves to be useful on several occasions to Nigel as he uses it to catapult himself towards Blu, as a climbing rope, as a leash and as a pulley system.

The creature with the prolonged proboscis is at Nigel's beck and call – until he is inevitably distracted by ants.

He was the silent muscle in Nigel's plot to find Blu and get revenge on him.

After the group sneaks onto the same boat as the Spix's Macaw Family, Charlie inadvertently foils Nigel's attempt to kill Blu in his sleep; Having been distracted by some ants in a plastic bottle, Charlie got his snout stuck trying to get the last one. When he finally pulled his snout out, he accidentally hit the switch for the boat's horn, waking everyone up. The humans then drive them off the boat.

The next morning, they are shown to be floating on a life preserver. Seeing Blu and his family flying away, Nigel has Charlie use his tongue like a propeller to move them through the water. Later, Charlie carries Nigel and Gabi through the jungle, then climbs up a tree for Nigel to get a better look.

The next day, they see what appears to be Blu. Nigel has Charlie "tongue-apult" him to their target (Who turns out not to be Blu). Charlie watches Nigel's audition, and later hears his plan to kill Blu, rehearsing his part by firing a dart with Gabi's poison on it at a fruit made up to look like Blu.

During the battle against the loggers, Nigel sees an opportunity to kill Blu. Charlie fires a dart, but it misses. When Nigel and Blu are struggling, Charlie fires again, accidentally hitting Nigel. It is then that they discover that Gabi is not poisonous.

As Nigel is dragged away by Gabi, who plans to shower him with love, Charlie responds to his call for help by giving two thumbs up, and shuffling away. He is later seen at the "Amazon Untamed" party, dancing around his tongue as if it were a lasso.

Personality

Although mute, Charlie is usually seen with a smile on his face. He was loyal to Nigel and Gabi, though when he saw a chance to leave, he took it.

Charlie does almost anything for ants, and red ants make him crazy.

Relationships

Nigel

Nigel freed Charlie and then took him in as his personal steed and "silent muscle." Despite Charlie's loyalty to him, Nigel is usually rather rude to him and doesn't really care if he is in pain, usually denying him the wish to eat ants, and riding on his back like a horse.

When Nigel is being smothered with affection by Gabi, Charlie takes the opportunity to leave, ignoring Nigel's cries for help.

Gabi

Gabi usually rides around on Charlie's hat, so as to stay close to Nigel. She doesn't really show an opinion towards Charlie, though she does find his size and strength useful.

Skills and Abilities

• Strength
  • Charlie is shown to be strong to lift Nigel and Gabi on his back with no sign of struggling.
• Tongue
  • Charlie's very long tongue is very useful to be like a third hand to grab objects. He shows his tongue to have the strength to hold Nigel. Charlie is also able to use his tongue as a slingshot, a pulley system, a boat propeller, a climbing rope, and a leash.
• Speed
  • Charlie can run very fast, and is used as transportation for Nigel and Gabi, like a horse.
• Enhanced Smell
  • Charlie has a very strong sense of smell to find ants with.
• Dancing
• Climbing
  • Though his kind are good climbers, Charlie has to use his tongue to go around the tree, and climb it like rope.
• Dart Shooter
  • Charlie can use his long snout to shoot a porcupine quill.

Trivia

• Charlie is partially based off of and named after Charlie Chaplin, and Chaplin's popular screen persona, "The Tramp."
  • His mime tactics are most likely based off of Marcel Marceau.
• He is the first animal shown to dance in front of humans while being forced to by his owner.
• Northern tamanduas are great tree climbers, but Charlie doesn't look like he can climb at all, using his tongue like a rope to hold on and climb, like a lumberjack. This may be due to him being raised in captivity, and therefore not having any experience climbing trees.
• According to Blue Sky Studios' Twitter, Charlie was originally going to be working in a circus with Nigel and Gabi.
• His character description on the official movie site stated that "red ants make him crazy." This is never seen to happen in Rio 2. In the Junior Novel, eating a red ant causes Charlie intense pain, but also gives him a burst of energy.

Gallery

Main article: Charlie/Gallery