List of characters in Jurassic Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is a list of characters from Michael Crichton's fiction novels Jurassic Park and The Lost World. Details are also given of the characters' roles in Steven Spielberg's film adaptations, Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and also in Jurassic Park III, directed by Joe Johnston, which is not an adaptation but contains characters and events based on Crichton's novels. (Original characters from Jurassic Park 3, however, are not included.)
Contents |
[edit] Recurring characters
These characters appear in more than one film/novel.
[edit] Dr. Alan Grant
Grant, played by Sam Neill in the film, is a key figure in the Jurassic Park franchise and an expert renowned in his field of Paleontology. John Hammond (founder of InGen) convinces Grant and his coworker Dr. Ellie Sattler to take a tour of this preserve and later to endorse the park itself. Following the shock and amazement of discovering that InGen had successfully cloned dinosaurs, Grant quickly found out the dangers of what man's tampering with nature could unleash. Mayhem struck when the dinosaurs escaped and Grant, who previously disliked children, found himself becoming the father figure and hero for Lex and Tim. He developed a better understanding, not just of children, but also of the consequences of interfering with nature. It should be noted that within the novel Grant had a strong affinity for children - particularly because of their interests in dinosaurs. In making the movie, the screenwriters did this mostly to add tension between Grant and Tim & Lex, especially between Grant and Tim who idolizes the man in both film and novel.
[edit] Dr. Ian Malcolm
Ian Malcolm is a mathematician appearing in Jurassic Park. He specializes in the study of the chaos theory and refers to himself as a "chaotician". Jeff Goldblum played the role of Malcolm in the Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park movies. Malcolm is John Hammond's primary critic in both the novel and film, accurately predicting the instability of Hammond's creation. Malcolm is seriously injured in the first book, and is even presumed dead - but in the second book, The Lost World, he returns alive, but crippled. He survives the film with a comparatively minor leg injury, and was thus easily brought back perfectly healthy (except for a minor limp) for the film adaptation of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. In both the films and books Malcolm is an eccentric character who dresses entirely in black; he is described as having the mannerisms of a rock star in the original Jurassic Park, but is sobered by his experiences there and returns as a more measured man in The Lost World.
[edit] Dr. Ellie Sattler
She is Dr. Alan Grant's graduate student, and joined him on the tour of InGen's dinosaur preserve. In the movie she is in a relationship with Alan Grant, whereas in the book she is engaged to a doctor. (In the film Jurassic Park III we learn that the relationship between her and Dr. Grant did not work out, although they remain close friends.) Laura Dern plays Ellie in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III.
[edit] John Hammond
Hammond is the creator of Jurassic Park and founder of InGen. He is likened to Walt Disney and his Disneyland. He is played by Richard Attenborough. In the movie version, he appears as a sympathetic grandfather, but in the book, he is depicted as a mean-spirited CEO, solely interested in profit and (fatally) lacking interest in the technicalities of genetic engineering. In the book, Hammond is killed by compys; therefore, he does not appear in the novel The Lost World as he does in the movie version.
[edit] Dr. Lewis Dodgson
A Biosyn agent, played by Cameron Thor in the film of Jurassic Park. He plays a much larger role in the second book, The Lost World. In the novel version of The Lost World he is picked up by a T-rex and then eaten by its brooding children. Dodgson featured briefly in the first book and film, setting up Dennis Nedry's corporate espionage, but the storyline of the second was altered significantly from the novel's and eliminated him altogether. Dodgson's name was created from the combination of a famous Victorian author's pen name (Lewis Carroll) and his real last name (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson).
[edit] Dr. Martin "Marty" Guitierrez
A doctor from the United States who moved to Costa Rica to practice, he plays an expository role in both novels. He is Richard Levine's best, and perhaps only, friend. He did not appear in either movie. In the first book he is the one who identifies the compys and at the end tells Grant that some dinosaurs may have escaped.
[edit] Tyrannosaurus rex
While not strictly a "character", the T-rex is one of the most immediately recognisable elements of the films and books. Throughout the story it is featured as a typical "big scary thing to run away from". At the end of the film's most memorable scene it roars its defiance and superiority over all others after killing the raptors threatening Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and the Murphy siblings (not out of any altruistic intentions). In the second movie a pair of rexes (the male in specific) feature prominently and more character is given to the monster. In the third movie a tyrannosaur appears only briefly to fight (and die at the jaws of) the film's main monster, the Spinosaurus.
[edit] Jurassic Park
These characters only appear in Jurassic Park.
[edit] John Arnold
Arnold, played by Samuel L. Jackson in the film, ran the main control center from within the visitor's center. After Dennis Nedry turned off the power to the park, Arnold volunteered to go outside and get the power back on, subsequently falling prey to a Velociraptor. In the movie he was called Ray Arnold, however, a deleted scene from The Lost World mistakenly refers to him as John.
[edit] Robert Muldoon
In the book, he was Hammond's alcoholic game warden from his nature reserve in Kenya. The character was played by Bob Peck in the film. Muldoon was in charge of guarding the Velociraptors before they escaped from their cage. In the film the Velociraptors outsmarted Muldoon and killed him while he was trying to hunt them; however, at the same time, he kept Ellie Sattler safe by keeping the Velociraptors busy while she ran to the maintenance shed. In the novel, Muldoon survives and leaves the island after having shot many dinosaurs with a rocket launcher, burying Ed Regis' remains, and locating Dennis Nedry's half-eaten corpse. The movie's Muldoon is notably more serious than his counterpart in the novel, lacking that character's alcoholism.
[edit] Dennis Nedry
Nedry worked for John Hammond and was in charge of networking Jurassic Park's computers. In the book Nedry doesn't know what InGen was actually doing, and was ordered to program without many details. Eventually he was called to island to fix numerous bugs. However, Hammond refused to pay him any extra money to do that, and threatened Nedry by sending "unreliable" letters to Nedry's other contractors. Eventually Lewis Dodgson of Biosyn found out that Nedry was in discomfort and offered him money to steal embryos from Jurassic Park's labs. In order to steal the embryos - and make a swift escape from the park - Nedry had to shut down Park's security systems, including the electric fences surrounding various dinosaur paddocks, except for the Velociraptor cage (that got disabled when Ray Arnold decided to reset the computers by shutting down the power to take control back) Right before he dies, he drops the shaving cream can with the frozen embryos inside. In both the book and the movie, Nedry is poisoned and subsequently killed by a Dilophosaurus. His death in the novel is far more gory and graphic than in the movie, where it is almost comedic (his death is not shown in the movie, however he is assumed dead). Wayne Knight played the role of Nedry in the movie adaption.
The name "Nedry" is a not-so-subtle anagram of "nerdy".
[edit] Dr. Henry Wu
Wu was the genetics scientist in Jurassic Park, head of the team that created dinosaurs. In the movie he discusses with the group the fact that all the dinosaurs on the island are female. Wu was played by B.D. Wong. In the novel, Wu has a much larger part; he proposes genetically altering further saurian creations to make them more manageable, something that Hammond opposes. Eventually he is killed by Velociraptors. In the movie, he survives because he left with many other scientists to return to the mainland before the storm.
[edit] Ed Regis
A Public Relations manager for International Genetic Technologies (InGen) who was present during Dr. Grant's visit to the park, and acted as a tour guide. He meets a fate similar to the film version of Donald Gennaro (eaten by juvenile T-rex after running out of the car). He was written out of the movie, however, and certain aspects of his character were given to Gennaro.
[edit] Donald Gennaro
Gennaro, portrayed by Martin Ferrero in the film, was the lawyer that accompanied the first group to Isla Nublar. In the film he was killed by a Tyrannosaurus rex while hiding from it in a small park port-a-potty. In the novel, Gennaro survives, but is mentioned as having died of dysentery in the novel of The Lost World. In the book he is strong, intelligent and occasionally brave, able to fight an injured Velociraptor and win. In the film his character is almost the polar opposite - he is a greedy coward who abandons Tim and Lex to be eaten by the T. rex, though that ironically leads to be him being eaten. In the book he helps Muldoon shoot the T. rex and ventures (unwillingly) down into the nest to count the raptors.
[edit] Alexis "Lex" Murphy
Lex is Tim's younger sister and John Hammond's granddaughter. She is a sporty girl who loves baseball. In the films, the ages of Tim and Lex are reversed and their personalities are slightly different, with Ariana Richards playing Lex as a 'computer hacker' in the original film rather than the outgoing, sporty, outspoken young girl that was depicted in the novel. Ariana Richards also makes a brief appearance as Lex in the second film, The Lost World.
[edit] Tim Murphy
Tim is Lex's older brother and John Hammond's grandson. He is into dinosaurs and computers. In the films, the ages of Tim and Lex are reversed and their personalities are slightly different from their novel counterparts. He was played by Joseph Mazzello in the first film Jurassic Park and retains his love and knowledge of dinosaurs, but loses the computer skills his character had in the novel to his sister. Joseph Mazzello also appears briefly as Tim in the second film, The Lost World.
[edit] Dr. Gerry Harding
Jurassic Park's veterinarian, who appears with the sick Triceratops in the first Jurassic Park film. In the first book he first appears to help a sick Stegosaurus and then helps Ian Malcolm recover. He survives a raptor jumping onto him from the roof, unlike Henry Wu, and is rescued at the end of the book. He thinks that Malcolm is dead but actually manages to revive him in time. It is not made clear whether he is related to Sarah Harding but there are several hints. Crichton himself was to later reveal that this was the case. In the novel Lost World, Sarah informs Ian Malcolm that her father was a veterinarian, much to Malcolm's surprise, as a bird specialist, which matches the description of Harding from Jurassic Park's novel. Harding is played by Gerald R. Molen, the film's producer. The character is not given a first name in the novel, but it is assumed that "Gerry" is derived from "Gerald."
[edit] The Lost World
These characters appear only in the second novel/movie, The Lost World.
[edit] Dr. Sarah Harding
Sarah is a field biologist, working in Nairobi, and the old love interest of Malcolm. It is also hinted that she may be the daughter of Dr. Gerry Harding from the first novel (he worked at the San Diego Zoo as a vet). Levine consults her about wild life expeditions. When Levine gets lost on the island, she is invited to Isla Sorna by Thorne, but gets to the island by her own means. Unlike in the movie, Sarah is a brunette, and not the current love interest of Ian Malcolm. In the movie she was portrayed by Julianne Moore, and also awarded some properties of Richard Levine.
[edit] Dr. Richard Levine
Levine, one of the main characters of the second book, is a paleontologist and exact opposite to Ian Malcolm. He is only interested in details, and does not much think of the consequences of his actions. Estate of a famous toy series, he is quite rich and arrogant, but still a paleontologist recognized as being brilliant. He is ordered by judge to do public service time, and he complies by teaching a seventh grade class, which is how he meets Arby and Kelly. Levine coincidentally learns that he is not the only one looking for the 'lost world', and he rushes to the Isla Sorna without informing Malcolm or Thorne. This character was completely left out in the second movie, although some of his properties were given to Sarah Harding.
[edit] Dr. Jack Thorne
Thorne is an old professor, and owns a company that makes vehicles and lab equipment that can work in the wild, where there is no gas or power. In the second novel he produces the vehicles for Richard Levine and Ian Malcolm's expedition to Isla Sorna. He is also a member of the expedition team. He does not appear in the movie, and his qualities are given to the movie version of Eddie Carr.
[edit] Eddie Carr
Eddie is the aide of Thorne, and when Levine goes to the island unplanned, he becomes a part of the team since most of the vehicles were not fully tested. In the novel he is described as a compact and strong 24 year old who prefers urban areas. He left college to work with Thorne. In the novel, when Velociraptors attack the team, he gets killed. In the second movie he is considerably older, played by Richard Schiff and is still killed, but by a pair of T-Rex as he tries to save the trailers (in the novel, Thorne saves the trailers, but does not get killed).
[edit] Howard King
Howard is the assistant to Lewis Dodgson. Once a successful biologist in Biosyn, he loses almost everything when his research fails, but then Dodgson takes King as his assistant in the reverse engineering department. In time, he learns how to deal with Dodgson, and how to cover his mistakes. In the second book, he goes to the island with Dodgson, but they separate when they fail to retrieve eggs from T-rex nest. Eventually, he is killed by Velociraptors as he tries to run to the forest. He is replaced in the movies with Dieter Stark(Peter Stormare).In the movie Dieter was portrayed as a ruthless hunter, second-in-command to Roland Tembo. Later he is killed by a pack of compys after he got lost in the forest.
[edit] George Baselton
A renowned biology professor, Baselton was once hired by InGen to cover the Jurassic Park fiasco on media. He is later hired by Biosyn, and goes to the island with Dodgson to steal eggs, in the second book. He and Dodgson find the T. rex, with Dodgson using a device to keep the dinosaurs away. However, Dodgson treads too far, causing the device to become unplugged, therefore allowing the tyrannosaurs to proceed towards them. Remembering something he had heard, Baselton freezes, believing the T. rex would not be able to see him. The dinosaur quickly turns and knocks Baselton to the ground, then proceeds to tear him in half and eat him. He is replaced in the movies by Robert Burke. Burke is killed when he hides in a waterfall.
[edit] R.B. (Arby) Benton
Arby is an African-American seventh-grade student, very intelligent, and talented with computers and electronics. His parents are doctors and quite wealthy. That, and also the fact that he is younger than his classmates (since he skipped two years), makes him feel alienated. His closest friend is Kelly. Arby helps Thorne to extract information from Levine's InGen computer when Levine goes missing. When Thorne forbade them to join the Isla Sorna expedition Arby planned how to hide in the equipment. On the island again he helped with computer systems, especially by logging in InGen's video network. He took some injuries when raptors snatched the protective cage, with him locked inside, to their nest. He does not appear in the movie.
[edit] Kelly Curtis
Kelly is the closest friend of Arby, and a classmate. Like Arby she is smart, yet in all other issues she is completely different; she is Caucasian, adventurous and free minded. Her family isn't very rich, and her parents divorced. Unlike other youth Kelly is fascinated by science, and a big fan of Sarah Harding. It was her idea to go with the group, once she learned that Harding will join the group later, but she left the planning to Arby. On the island she meets with her idol, though doesn't help much until the end. The movie featured a girl named Kelly, whose role was changed (and merged with Arby Benton) to that of Malcolm's adopted African-American daughter, who stowed away to spend time with her father. Her most notable feat was using gymnast skills to kick a Velociraptor through a window. The raptor was seen flailing around on its side with a wooden stake driven through its abdomen, making Kelly the only human (in the films exept Dieter) to kill a dinosaur. She was portrayed by Vanessa Lee Chester in the movie.
| Novels: | Jurassic Park | The Lost World |
| Films: | Jurassic Park | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | Jurassic Park III | Jurassic Park IV |
| Settings: | Isla Nublar | Jurassic Park Visitors Center | The Five Deaths | Isla Sorna |
| Various: | List of characters in Jurassic Park | List of vehicles in Jurassic Park | InGen | Biosyn | Jurassic Park (video game) | Dominican Amber | Dragon curve | Michael Crichton | Steven Spielberg | Joe Johnston |
