Characters / Encanto - The Family Madrigal

• Animal Motifs: Butterflies. Encanto has butterfly-themed structures and at least three characters (Mirabel, Alma, and Pedro) have designs based off them on them. Even Alma's mourning shawl has black-on-black embroidered butterflies. The fourth character is Bruno, as the hourglasses on his poncho are shaped like sideways butterflies. Also, the white clothes worn by the young Madrigal during the gift ceremony (stated by Word of God to be based on first Communion clothes) are adorned with stylised butterfly motifs. invoked
• Badass Family: Downplayed. All the members have unique qualities to offer, from having magic powers or being non-magical but devoted Papa Bears like Agustín and Félix or a non-magical Action Survivor like Mirabel. However, the story deals with the family's growing disharmony among themselves that threatens to destroy the miracle, and this limits their ability to function as unified and undefeatable team.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The three daughters of Julieta and Agustín form this trio. Isabela is obviously the Beauty, and Luisa's Super-Strength easily provides the Brawn. Mirabel does function more as the Heart of the trio but her mother does compliment Mirabel on her Brains and there are a few occasions where she uses her wits while trying to save the miracle.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: A salient characteristic of the entire family, with Mirabel and Isabela having really impressive pairs. It helps draw attention to their eyes since perspective is a fundamental theme of the film. Both Pedro and Alma had these in their youth.
• Big, Thin, Short Trio: Julieta and Agustín's daughters - Luisa is big & strong, Isabela is slim & beautiful, and Mirabel's official height is stated to be 5'2", which is relatively short for a 15-year-old.
• Blessed with Suck: At first, the gifts seem to be a blessing for the Madrigals. But as the film goes on, it becomes clear that the expectations from Alma and the town have turned these gifts into burdens.
  • Luisa's super strength seems to have caused the village to become complacent on her being the one who does all the chores. We see her gathering donkeys that have gotten loose even though any villager could have done that task, and the villagers ask her to move entire buildings as well as other structures daily. As a result, she overworks herself to the point of exhaustion.
  • Isabela creates pretty flowers at the drop of a hat. However the expectations of having to be an icon of perfection leaves her focusing only on pretty flowers and unable to experiment with her gift. It isn't until Mirabel causes her to have a moment of "imperfect" anger and frustration, that she learns she can affect all botanical life.
  • Pepa's Weather Manipulation is tied to her emotions and her generally volatile nature means that her powers frequently spiral out of control and annoy others around her, so she is forced to constantly push herself to remain calm and bottle up all of her emotions.
  • Bruno has the ability to see into the future however this ability caused many to fear and mistrust him because they believed his predictions caused misfortune to befall them.
  • It's implied that Dolores' superhuman hearing abilities can be overwhelming at times, and she notably speaks very softly, and even sings softly during "We Don't Talk About Bruno". She can occasionally be seen covering her ears when it comes to loud noises.
• Color Motif: The family as a whole has a rainbow theme, with the warm and cool colors split between the two branches. Pepa's side wears red, orange and yellow, and Julieta's wears blue and cyan. Alma wears a violet-red dress, symbolizing that she is the original progenitor, and combining her red with Pepa's yellow and Julietta's blue, the colors of Colombia's flag are represented. Bruno wears a muted green poncho, symbolizing that he is the odd one out and Black Sheep of the family (green is right at the middle of the color spectrum). Pedro wears white. He is the only posthumous Madrigal, and his love remains in each family member through the magic of his sacrifice.
• Cosmic Motifs: The family is regularly compared to a constellation of stars, each shining brightly individually but forming a greater whole together. This association with stars also ties back into the serious amount of pressure the Madrigals are under, and Mirabel herself points out that "stars don't shine, they burn," as in "burn out."
• Cuddle Bug: The family members are comfortable with showing physical affection with each other. Even the more reserved members, Alma and Isabela, show their affection and grow more affectionate by the end of the movie.
• Dysfunctional Family: Played with. It seems the family starts out as supportive and unrestricted beyond Alma's desire to use their gifts to give back to the community but over time becomes dysfunctional as Alma's desire to preserve the miracle intensifies. The first marriages (Pepa/Félix) and (Julieta/Agustín) appear to have been unguided. As grandchildren enter the household, Alma continues to guide the family toward being of service to the community. When Mirabel fails to get a gift, Alma begins to quietly fear that they've failed to be worthy of the miracle and increases the pressure to give back. Bruno, at this point, is hiding behind the walls and working to repair the cracks that have started to appear. By the time Antonio gets his gift, Alma has become aware of the cracks in the Casita and becomes even more focused on keeping the miracle alive. She takes steps to arrange the marriage of Isabela and Mariano (regardless of Isabela's feelings) and becomes more critical of Mirabel's actions that she feels jeopardizes the miracle. Although Mirabel reconciles with Isabela and begins to strengthen the candle flame, Alma is so distraught at how changed Isabela has become that she openly accuses Mirabel and Bruno of hurting the family. Which becomes the final straw that causes the miracle to collapse.
• Family Man: What distinguishes the Madrigal men, who are devoted not just to their wives and children, but also their siblings-in-law and their children, to the point that family scenes like preparing for Antonio's gift ceremony and Isabela's proposal dinner can make it difficult to distinguish between father and uncle.
• Family Theme Naming:
  • The male family members' names end in -o (Pedro, Bruno, Camilo, Antonio) as is common for masculine Hispanic names, but the men who married into the family (Félix and Agustín) end in consonants, which marks them as outsiders.
  • Also commonly seen in Hispanic countries, the women in the family tend to have names that end in -a (Alma, Pepa, Julieta, Luisa, and Isabela). The odd ones out are Dolores (the only younger Madrigal without a sister) and Mirabel (the only younger Madrigal without a magical gift).
• Foil: Various family members serve as foils to other family members.
  • Agustin and Félix, his brother-in-law. They both show how non-magical men appealed to the Madrigal women. Agustín is kind and well-intentioned but accident prone which led him to being soothed by Juileta as she treats him for his injuries quite often, whereas Félix is very good at soothing Pepa's moods before they get out of hand and greatly affects the weather.
  • Bruno and Antonio. They are two of the gentlest and most sweet-natured members of the family, who communicate better with animals than they do with people. Antonio wears mostly yellow, and his room is green with leaves. Bruno wears mostly green, and his room is yellow with sand. Both are utterly devoted to supporting Mirabel. Antonio even offers his room to Bruno so that he can perform his vision, and passes along the stuffed jaguar Mirabel gave him for comfort. For bonus points, Alma calls them both by a pet name ("Toñito" and "Brunito"). Bruno was unable to make his gift serviceable to his family, whereas Antonio is just now figuring that out with mixed results (such as having the animals warm Abuela's seat or taking an unwelcome interest in danger-prone Agustin).
  • Bruno and Camilo. While Camilo is a master actor when shapeshifting into other people, Bruno wishes his power was acting. They both have a love of theatre but while Camilo prefers to have the spotlight on himself Bruno prefers to watch his rat friends perform. The two have a gift with enormous potential for social chaos. Bruno was never able to make his power fit in with society and instead comes of as creepy and difficult to understand. In contrast, Camilo uses his gift to entertain others and is in charge of welcoming people into the household. This is reflected in their dynamic with Pepa. Bruno tried to soothe Pepa with a joke but accidentally provoked her at her own wedding, whereas Camilo never plays pranks on Pepa and is exceedingly tender with her. As a clue to their connection, they are the only two Madrigals to wear traditional Colombian ruanas.
  • Bruno and Dolores. Their gifts are huge potential liabilities. He can see the future and she can hear the present. Whereas he discloses information indiscriminately, Dolores is more cautious and quieter. It's implied she sympathizes with him and thus never betrays his secret, since she can hear him in the walls.
  • Bruno and Isabela. She is the golden child; he is the black sheep of the family. Both feel incredible pressure to put the family first, which she fulfills by being perfect, suppressing her dreams and true self, and he does so by removing himself from the family for being unable to be good enough. They wear unique colors; she wears a muted mauve and he a muted green. Isabela is one of the few people who received a positive prediction from Bruno, and she is one of the few people who does not speak negatively of him. It's telling that during her makeover, she gains a green streak in her hair, his signature color.
  • Bruno and Luisa. They both struggle with self-worth, but for opposing reasons. Luisa is incredibly proud of her super strength, but is burdened by the responsibility. When she feels herself grow weak, she fears that without her power she will be worthless. In contrast, Bruno feels worthless precisely because of his gift and his inability to ever make his family proud. Physically, Luisa is the most robust Madrigal and towers over her sisters, but Bruno is the frailest, and shorter than both his sisters.
  • Bruno and Mirabel. They are both unfairly blamed for bad things happening when they don't keep up the "perfect, happy family" act. While Bruno hid himself away to make everyone happy, Mirabel keeps working to make sure the problems get addressed. Mirabel is also well-fed, and Bruno malnourished. Also, while Mirabel starts off the movie believing that she needs a magic gift, Bruno shows how one can do more harm than good. As a clue to their connection, green is Bruno's signature color, Mirabel wears green glasses, and no other family member wears green. They are also the youngest child of their parents but struggle with middle child syndrome.
  • Isabela and Dolores. Both are the firstborn daughters of their respective family branches, and both are twenty-one years old, so they were even born the same year. Isabela makes a spectacle of her powers, growing beautiful flowers and swinging in vines, she's admired and beloved by the community, and is Mariano's romantic interest. It even goes down to their appearance: Isabela wears a full dress, her long silky hair down, with a natural flower on it. However, Isabela is under constant pressure to uphold this "señorita perfecta" facade, wishes to do more with her powers besides grow flowers, and doesn't actually love Mariano. Dolores' name means sorrows, whereas Isabela has the tea drop beauty mark associated with sorrow. They both have resigned themselves to the same unhappy fate. Isabela will marry Mariano for the sake of the family although she does not love him, and Dolores will not impede the marriage for the sake of the family, although she does love him.
  • Luisa and Camilo. They are both middle children of their respective branches, but opposite in terms of appearance and personality. Of the children she is quiet and reliable, whereas Camilo is bombastic and mischievous. They both have an air of confidence, but deep down they are insecure. They also have unconventional approaches to gender. Luisa is a teenage girl with a powerfully muscular build, and Camilo is a slender teenage boy who can easily shapeshift between male and female forms.
  • Mirabel and Alma. Their rooms are opposite each other and they clash the most throughout the film. Their designs revolve around butterflies, but Alma dresses very soberly, Mirabel dresses festively. Alma wears deep violet-red and black, Mirabel wears blue and white. Mirabel also wears green glasses. The two are part of the Madrigal family and do not have any powers but are able to give speak directly Casita and command it. Alma holds authority over the family and directs through orders, Mirabel persuades the family to open up to her through compassion. They both want to save the magic but pursue this goal independently of one another. The conflict of the film is resolved when the two realize they must work together.
  • Mirabel and Antonio. Mirabel's gift ceremony previously failed, so Antonio's gift ceremony at the beginning of the movie is meant to demonstrate what happens when a gift ceremony does go off without a hitch—the door lights up instead of disappearing, and something happens that demonstrates what the new gift is (in Antonio's case, a toucan lands on his arm and speaks to him, causing him to discover he can now understand animals). Both are also youngest children who are insecure and anxious about living up to family expectations, but Antonio is open about his insecurity, which allows him to accept support and work through his anxieties, and acts shy, while Mirabel tries to ignore hers at first, but acknowledges it and accepts support by the end of the movie and acts outgoing.
• Flower Motifs: Though not as prominent as butterflies, many family members incorporate flowers into their attire. Aside from the obvious example in Isabela, Mirabel has plenty embroidered in her dress. Julieta has healing herbs and Pepa’s neckline resembles a sunflower. Agustín wears a flower on his lapel in honor of his oldest daughter. Dolores has flowers along the hem of her skirt. In their youth, Alma and Pedro wore white flowers in their clothes.
• Four-Girl Ensemble: Julieta forms this dynamic with her three daughters. Downplayed in that while the quartet does fit the basic personality types of the trope, they don't actually function as an ensemble in the story.
  • Julieta is the soft-spoken and motherly one; she has the power of healing through the food she cooks.
  • Isabela is (at first) the vain aloof glamorous one; starting off as a Proud Beauty with the power to create flowers and is admired for being pretty and perfect.
  • Luisa is the tomboyish one; she presents herself as tough, strong, and hard-working.
  • Mirabel is the kind, sweet-natured and wholesome one.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble:
  • The adults of the second generation. Pepa (choleric): a Fiery Redhead with quick temper and can be bossy but is also passionate and strong-willed. Félix (sanguine): The cheerful Big Fun of the family, always soothing Pepa's mood, dancing. Agustín (phlegmatic): The Nice Guy, humble, dorky, but prone to becoming nervous in a panic. Bruno (melancholic): Moody, pessimistic, shy, artistic, utterly selfless and devoted to others. Julieta (eclectic): the most balanced and reasonable member of the family, a Team Mom and Only Sane Woman, she prefers to support others quietly, but will speak up when it's right.
  • Pepa's family. Pepa (choleric), Félix (sanguine), Antonio (phlegmatic) a sweet, innocent boy eager to be helpful, but can become nervous when put in the spotlight. Dolores (melancholic) quiet and shy, with a hidden romantic side and equally strong sense of morality which makes her empathic to others. Camilo (eclectic) the chameleon of the family, he loves to experiment personas when he shapeshifts but in his own form is shy, insecure, and tender.
  • Julieta's family. Luisa (choleric) determined, strong willed, confident, a natural leader, though the excessive weight she takes upon her shoulders in silence makes her buckle. Mirabel (sanguine) friendly, loves to sing and dance, is supportive of others and puts on a brave smile in the face of hardship. Agustín (phlegmatic). Isabela (melancholic) the perfectionist, prone to dramatics and stealing the spotlight but also has a strong sense of morality and self-sacrifice. Julieta (eclectic).
• Gold-Colored Superiority: While each Madrigal has a different signature color, their shared magical power manifests as a bright golden light, which is shared by the candle, the butterflies, and their doors.
• Humble Hero: One of the defining traits of the family. Despite being basically a team of superheroes, they use their gifts to help the townsfolk without demanding payment or even thanks (Luisa treats all requests as her daily chores, Julieta feeds her healing arepas to anyone who lines up). Even the prouder family members like Isabela and Camilo never use their powers to boast or extol themselves. It's made explicit during the gift ceremony that every Madrigal vows to use their power to benefit others. It pays off handsomely. When the magic disappears and the Madrigals are left homeless and powerless, the entire town gladly gathers to rebuild their home every bit as grand as it was before.
• Latino Is Brown: A conscious aversion. Unlike the Rivera family from the previous Disney-Pixar film set in Latin America, Coco, the Madrigals display a wide range of phenotypes, appropriate to Colombia, one of the most diverse populations in South America. This is especially apparent in the five adults of the second generation. The fair-skinned and auburn-haired Pepa represents European Latinos, Félix has the dark skin and tightly curled hair of Afro-Latinos, Agustín's smooth hair and distinctively almond-shaped eyes are reminiscent of Asian Latinos, Julieta has the most South American indigenous features, and Bruno with his dark loose curls, dark green eyes and medium skin tone is Mestizo. Their children exhibit an even greater range of mixed ancestry.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine:
  • Isabela (Dark) and Mirabel (Light). Isabela is a world-class beauty, aloof, mysterious, and surrounded by an aura of perfection. Mirabel is cute, friendly, quirky, and the normal one of the family. Understanding their mutual differences becomes critical to resolving the conflict of the film.
  • Pepa (Dark) and Julieta (Light). Ironically Pepa has light hair and wears bright clothes, while Julieta has dark hair and wears cool tones. Nevertheless, Pepa dances tango, is assertive, unpredictable, intimidating, and her moods can manifest with storms and loose lightning bolts. Julieta is demure, patient, sweet, and provides support and healing to her family.
• Light Is Good: While they all have different signature colors, their power manifests as a bright, shining light. During their gift ceremony, they all vow to use their powers to benefit and help others.
• Mage Born of Muggles: Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno. As the progenitors of the miracle, Pedro and Alma do not have a gift, which adds a layer of irony to the latter's strained relationship with Mirabel.
• Martyr Without a Cause: Downplayed, since no one is sacrificing their lives, but the Madrigals have come to think they are obliged to throw away any dreams or happiness that don't fit the image of a picture-perfect family. The film is about the family realizing how wrong this mindset is and embracing their imperfections.
• Meaningful Name: A madrigal is a type of complex ensemble piece of music. The film is a musical about a family learning to be an ensemble and work with their complexities.
• Multigenerational Household: Three generations of the Madrigal family co-exist under one roof.
• Mundane Utility: While we have no real assurance that their gifts have an intended purpose, Alma has cultivated a mindset that their gifts are to be used for the good of their community. Luisa's Super-Strength is used for manual labor, Isabela's flowers decorate the town, Julieta's food helps the townsfolk with their general well-being, and so on.
• Nice Mean And In Between: It should be noted that all the mean examples are downplayed since despite their faults, none of the characters are outright villainous and all of them can be quite caring.
  • The triplets: Julieta is the kindest and most soft-spoken (nice), Pepa (mean) is the most hot-headed and temperamental (at least by comparison to her siblings) which mostly links to her gift and Bruno (in-between) is a Nice Guy, but has his odd moments here and there.
  • Julieta's children: Mirabel is nice (she does her best to help despite having no gift), Isabela is mean (she has a haughtiness towards Mirabel), Luisa is in-between (she is a hard worker but can be brusque).
  • Pepa's children: Antonio is nice (sweet, innocent, friend to all living things), Camilo is mean (he loves to mock people with his shapeshifting), Dolores is in-between (she is good-hearted but a busybody).
• Numerological Motif: Occurs all over the place, which is no surprise as this is a work of Magical Realism, with the most prominent being Rule of Three.
  • Four Is Death: Four horsemen invaded Alma’s and Pedro’s hometown and murdered him.
  • The number five also manifests often: Each couple has three children (2+3). Children get their gift at age five. Mariano wants 5 children with Isabela. Bruno has been gone for 10 years (2x5), Mirabel is 15 (3x5) and the miracle and the triplets were born 50 years ago (10x5).
• Orange/Blue Contrast: Pepa's side of the family wears warm colors like orange, yellow, and red. Her sister Julieta's side wears cool colors, mostly blue and purple.
• Personality Powers: According to the movie's creators, the family's gifts are a nod to many universally relatable family dynamics and are based on each individual's personality trait(s) or other characteristics.
  • Julieta is a caretaker by nature, and her power includes both making delicious food for others and healing their injuries.
  • Overly dramatic and emotionally volatile, Pepa's "gift" is influencing (and often drastically and instantaneously changing) the weather around her.
  • The way Isabela makes her surroundings blossom and specifically how precise and graceful her control over her gift is represents her status as a golden child striving for perfection. Notably, when she finally lets out her true feelings and lashes out in anger, she seemingly makes a spiky plant like a cactus for the first time in her life. From the following song, it's implied that Isabela has a genuine interest in botany and horticulture considering her vast knowledge of tropical and desert plants.
  • Luisa is the dependable child who strives to be a strong figure others can lean on; thus, she is literally very strong.
  • Dolores is a quiet and introverted person, so her hearing allows her to get information without actually talking to anyone. Perhaps because of this, she is a bit of a gossip.
  • According to his official description, Camilo "doesn't quite know who he is yet", which is portrayed with both him possessing an ability to shapeshift and how frequently he uses it to take the form of other people.
  • Antonio is quiet and not comfortable talking with most people, and rather talks to animals… thus gaining the ability to truly talk with them.
  • Bruno is the worrywart of the family, as described by the movie's creators, and thus can literally only see bad things in the future. However, Mirabel spurs him past despair to help him experience a more hopeful vision. This implies he would be able to see more good futures if he got a more positive outlook on the world.
• The Power of Family: This is what the Madrigal family's powers come from — their love for one another. This is brought to the forefront when the family loses their miracle because of the emotional strain that is put on them to be their "perfect" selves instead of their true selves.
• Pun: Madrigal sounds similar to the English word magical, and most of the family has magical powers.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni:
  • Pepa is the red to Julieta's blue, and their respective family branches are respectively warm and cool colored. (Bruno is somewhere in the middle).
  • Camilo is the red to Dolores' blue. He's often laughing and playing pranks, she's always quiet and listening.
  • Zigzagged with Félix and Agustín who are every bit the red and blue, respectively, though Félix is more mellow and down to earth, while Agustín tends to become nervous and naive.
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: It's not surprising given the Madrigals are a traditional Roman Catholic South American family. Pedro, Bruno, Agustín, and Antonio are the names of saints whose stories resonate to some degree with their characters. Isabela and Dolores share a Marian theme with Mariano. Alma (soul), Mirabel (miraculous), Félix (blessed), and Camilo (altar-bearer) recall ancillary religious concepts. The Madrigals both received a miracle of divine origin and use it to serve the community.
• Rule of Three: This is most apparent in the town mural of the Madrigals. There are three generations, three mothers, and each mother has three children. Outside of time skips and flashbacks, the plot of the film occurs over three days.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Félix and Agustín provide an interesting take on this dynamic. At their core, they are both sensitive and affectionate family men, but Félix fits the mold of the manly man given his broad shoulders, chiseled jawline, and hairy chest. In contrast, Agustín is slender and has fine features. Félix dresses in the standard masculine guayabera, while Agustín wears a spiffy suit. In terms of mannerisms, Félix has more dynamic and boisterous mannerisms, whereas Agustín is dorky and gangly. Félix also has a more hands-on approach to parenting since he has to rein in Camilo's impertinence by picking him up or elbowing him, Agustín is gentler with his daughters. Hilariously, it's not Agustín but Félix who plays the Henpecked Husband.
• Shared Family Quirks: According to the Junior Novelization, Alma sees a lot of Pedro in Mirabel. Justified, as Mirabel, Camilo, and Bruno have inherited his charming silliness in different ways.
• Sibling Yin-Yang:
  • Pepa is loud, anxious, and prone to dramatics while her sister Julieta is more down to earth and mellow.
  • Luisa is masculine, tough but quick to apologize, is protective of Mirabel, and has a hidden sensitive side. Her sister Isabela is feminine, delicate but haughty, is at first hostile toward Mirabel and has a hidden punk rocker-esque side.
  • Camilo is bombastic, his sister Dolores is quiet.
  • Camilo is extroverted, saucy, and a people-person while his brother Antonio is introverted, sweet, and an animal-lover.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: One of the defining traits among the Madrigal women. Their husbands, Pedro, Agustín, and Félix, are all devoted family men and Papa Wolves. And as mentioned below in separate parts, each woman fell for their respective husbands (boyfriend in Dolores' case) for their other respective positive qualities.
  • Alma was Happily Married to the family patriarch, Pedro. In either flashback or her retellings of him, Pedro has always been shown as a loving, funny, and respectful husband. Alma's love for him is so great, that she has not remarried in all the years he's been dead.
  • Julieta is married to the dorky, accident-prone but humble and helpful Agustín.
  • Pepa has a happy union with the cheerful, fun-loving, Félix, who helps her with moods and encourages her to express her true feelings.
  • In the end, Dolores joins in, since she fell in love with Mariano because he is a dutiful son who writes poetry.
• Slave to PR: The gifts have turned the Madrigals into a major source of help for the surrounding village, so the family feels it's necessary to always look and act as amazing as the community believes they are. This contributes to Luisa putting on a brave face when she feels overwhelmed, Isabela hiding her true passions, and Bruno exiling himself.
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: A few family members have shown signs of this:
  • Alma acts harsh and cold towards Mirabel, the Muggle of the Madrigal children and dismisses her impetuous efforts to save the miracle as something that is hurting the family. She also holds the rest of her family to impossibly high expectations, putting a lot of pressure on them to use their powers/gifts for the community. As the story unfolds, we see that it's because she is still grieving over the loss of her husband and fears that she will lose the Encanto just as she lost him years ago.
  • Isabela may act a smug Aloof Big Sister (or as Mirabel sees her - "selfish entitled princess"), but it's truly a mask to hide the fact that she’s pressured in having to be perfect around the clock.
  • Pepa (the most temperamental of the family) seems to have a storm cloud over top her head and has her moody moments for a good chunk of the movie but it’s only because she has to bottle up her emotions out of pressure to not cause a hurricane due to her gift.
  • Downplayed with Bruno as he shows signs of cynicism but is more of a shy introvert who sees his power as more of a burden than a gift to his family.
• Strong Family Resemblance: The story of Encanto features three generations of the Family Madrigal living under one roof. As one would expect from artists of Disney's caliber, there is considerable family resemblance at play.
  • Pepa and Julieta look a lot like their mother Alma, with the latter more so. And given that both women strongly resemble their mother, the sisters also share a noticeable resemblance to each other.
  • Bruno greatly resembles his late father, Pedro.
  • Antonio and Camilo get their looks from their father, the former more so, as Antonio resembles a tiny version of Félix. And given that both boys strongly resemble their father, the brothers also share a noticeable resemblance to each other.
  • Of her sisters, Mirabel resembles their mother, Julieta, the most.
  • Of her sisters, Luisa resembles their father, Agustín, the most.
  • Isabela is the granddaughter who bears the greatest resemblance to her grandmother, Alma. While Alma (in her younger years) and Isabela have notable differences in skin complexion and facial structures, otherwise Isabela is practically similar to her grandmother, and this is a possible reason for her being Alma's favored one as she sees much of herself in her granddaughter. See young Alma and Isabela together here.◊
  • Camilo is the young grandson who most resembles his late maternal grandfather, Pedro. Although they have various differences in skin color, facial structures and hair, Camilo inherited much of his Pretty Boy features and facial expressions from Pedro. As a clue to his kinship, Camilo is the only Madrigal alive who dresses in a white shirt like his grandfather. Touch here to see the facial features of Camilo and Pedro.◊
  • Downplayed between Mirabel and her grandparents. While they don't have as many similarities, as Mirabel has the most screen time, her facial features are prominently on display and fans have drawn particular attention to the resemblance between Mirabel and her grandparents — A comparison of young Alma and Mirabel can be seen here; the similarities of Pedro and Mirabel are catalogued here.
  • Although, the two cousins didn't get much screen time together, both Mirabel and Camilo share notable physical similarities, as seen here.
  • Both Mirabel and Camilo share a strong resemblance to their uncle Bruno. Both cousins share the notable resemblances around their eyes and curly hair similar to Bruno's. But while Mirabel has the same nose size and eyebrows, Camilo shares the same way of dressing and size of Bruno's face.
  • Of her siblings, Dolores takes after their mother, Pepa, the most. The only thing she gained from her father being his nose shape.
  • Downplayed between Julieta and Isabela — Between Julieta's daughters, it is Mirabel who most strongly resembles her while Isabela takes after her grandmother Alma the most. However, given the fact Julieta also shares a close resemblance to Alma, she also has similar facial features with her eldest daughter
• Symbol Motif Clothing: Some part of their clothing reflects what their power is as well as their personality.
  • Julieta heals people with food and has herbs and hearts on her dress. A mortar and pestle are embroidered on her blouse.
  • Although hardly visible, Agustín wears attributes that represent all three of his daughters: a flower for Isabela, one sock with weights for Luisa, and one sock with butterflies for Mirabel. It shows that he is devoted to his family and does not play favorites with his children… and he's rather dorky.
  • Isabela's dress is decorated in flowers, and she has power over plant life.
  • Luisa has Super-Strength and her dress has weight designs at the bottom.
  • Pepa wears suns on her dress and her power is Weather Manipulation. Her neckline resembles a blooming sunflower, and she wears suns for earrings. If you look closely, her headband has small lightning designs on them.
  • Félix has columns stacked on parallel lines over his guayabera. It symbolizes his stability and the support he provides to the more temperamental Pepa.
  • There are sound-like waves on Dolores' dress, and she has the power of Super-Hearing. Her earrings are shaped like hearts, and she is secretly in love.
  • Camilo's ruana has chameleons on it to reflect his shapeshifting powers and is very flouncy to represent his flair for drama.
  • Antonio's vest has animals on it, and he has the power to speak to animals.
  • Bruno's ruana has hourglass designs on it to symbolize his ability to see into the future. The hourglasses also resemble the butterflies which protect the family.
  • Alma has teardrop-shaped pearl earrings and teardrops around her neckline. She alone has carried in full the loss of her husband and home. Her skirt has abstracted gables and she is the head of the household. The teardrops also double as the flames of candles, which represent the magic of the family.
  • Mirabel has her dress decorated with a symbol for all the powers of her family members. To represent herself, she has her own face and her name embroidered on her skirt.
• Tender Tomboyishness, Foul Femininity: Luisa and Isabela, respectively. Luisa is a muscular Amazonian Beauty who takes pride in her hard work, helps everyone to the point of exhaustion, and has a sensitive side, while Isabela, renowned in town for being perfect and beautiful, with the power of making Flowers of Femininity grow around her, is haughty and aloof, particularly towards Mirabel. Eventually downplayed on Isabela's side, however, in that after her Character Development, she feels freer to express her tomboyish streak by making different kinds of plants and has a notably improved relationship with Mirabel.
• Three Successful Generations: Deconstructed. On the surface, Alma, Julieta and Mirabel do show the strengths of their generational positions. Alma (The Elder) is the matriarch of the Madrigal family and guides the use of the family's gifts in service to the community. Julieta (The Adult) uses her healing gift to help the community, a responsibility she takes quite seriously, and Mirabel (The Youth) is filled with passion and love for her family and seeks to support them however she can. Yet, as the story is about a family caught under the weight of dysfunction, we see the darker side of each generation that impacts how successful each can be. Alma has suffered greatly which has affected her ability to serve as a wise matriarch. She is motivated by fear and grief such that she imposes a "toxic perfectionism" on her family that is slowly crushing them under the weight of her expectations. Julieta is clearly an empowered adult who uses her skill to the best of her ability yet is also saddened by having a brother who "lost his way" in the family but finds that she can't even bring up his name and now fears that Mirabel may follow the same path. Finally, while there is no denying Mirabel's love and enthusiasm for her family, her song "Waiting on a Miracle" shows that after years of trying to accept that "she is just as special as the rest of her family", we see that she realizes she lives in the shadow of all that her family can do and admits that she is still waiting for her own miracle.
• Town Girls: Julieta's daughters. Beautiful, graceful, and very floral oldest sister Isabela is the Femme; spunky and awkward youngest sister Mirabel is the Neither; tough, strong middle sister Luisa is the Butch. Fittingly, they also have distinct Voice Types; Isabela has the highest, Mirabel the middle, and Luisa the lowest.
• With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Deconstructed with how Alma treats the miracle she was granted and the gifts her children and grandchildren received. The movie shows that the gifts are simply granted with no conditions or expectations. However, Alma wishes to show that they are worthy of their miracle they were given, and she mandates that the family devote themselves to service within the community and pressures them to live up to that standard.

Alma Madrigal

The matriarch of the Madrigals and the head of their Encanto Village. She is a stern but ultimately good-hearted woman who practically worships the candle that blessed her family with their magic gifts.

• Anger Born of Worry: Her treatment of Mirabel and Bruno (due to both supposedly being the catalysts of the vanishing magic) stems from her fears of losing her family like she lost her husband.
• Apron Matron: Abuela Alma is the stern and dutiful head of not only her household but her entire community.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other:
  • When Bruno shows up on horseback to defend his youngest niece (not realizing that she and Alma have reconciled), Alma's first instinct is to hug her only son in spite of the bad blood between them.
  • Despite her frequent discussions with Julieta and constant scolding towards Pepa, it is clear that Alma loves them. After realizing her mistakes, the first thing Alma does is apologize lovingly and sincerely to her daughters.
  • It's clear that despite the strained relationship between the pair, Alma and Mirabel hold a lot of affection for each other. Mirabel sings positively about her in The Family Madrigal and Abuela returns to the river where Pedro was killed, a major source of trauma for her, just to apologize to Mirabel.
• Big Good: Deconstructed. Alma tries to play the trope straight and live up to the responsibility of being worthy of the miracle. The town of Encanto looks to her for hope and guidance, and when the magic is in danger, they turn to her for reassurance. She serves as the matriarch of her family and they follow her orders implicitly, however, this takes a heavy toll as Alma's "toxic perfectionism" creates expectations that are hard to live up to. It's even arguable that, as the primary source of the film's central conflicts, Alma is the closest thing it has to a Big Bad. At the end of the film Alma appears on the right track to play the trope straight.
• Body Motifs: Hands. Alma is often depicted holding the magic candle in her hands or else keeping her hands busy, whether it is with affectionate hand gestures to her children and grandchildren’s faces or with housework. She also makes commanding gestures with her hands. The moments of greatest pathos in her character arc have her holding hands with either Mirabel or Bruno. The motif is made more apparent by her attire, since her hands are often the only part of her body visible under her dark shawl. This all contributes to her position as the ultimate authority in the family, and also shows that she still wears her wedding ring 50 years after her husband's death.
• Break the Haughty: Happens when her youngest granddaughter angrily points out that she's the reason the magic is dying, resulting in Casita crumbling and Mirabel running away.
• Broken Bird: What she became after her husband's death. She was once a cheerful young woman full of life and hope. The loss of her husband plus the responsibility thrust upon her as the keeper of the miracle turned her into the hardened woman she is in the present. Once Mirabel understands all this, she is able to forgive and thank her grandmother.
• Control Freak: Deconstructed. Alma's tight hold on her family to live a life of service to the community to show they are worthy of the miracle puts them all under pressure to meet this never-ending goal.
• Dark and Troubled Past: In the span of a day, Alma was in labor and gave birth to triplets, then her town was attacked by nameless horsemen, forcing her and her husband to hike into the mountains to escape. She then watches her husband killed in front of her and fears for the lives of her children until the miracle occurs which saves her, but also separates her from her husband's body so she was never able to give it a proper burial. She then found herself as the guide and caretaker of the refugees from her old village. We're never shown that she takes time to process her grief. Although she tries to be a firm but loving matriarch to her family and the Encanto, it's clear that the trauma of that night has left her constantly fearful of losing her home and her family so that when Mirabel doesn't get her gift, Alma is left anxious and troubled that the miracle which saved her all those years ago is fading.
• Determinator: For 50 years, Alma has worked nonstop to protect the Encanto, protect her home, protect her family...in that order.
• Deuteragonist: The story is as much about Alma and her backstory and character development as it is about Mirabel, and it largely revolves around their conflict with each other.
• Doting Grandparent: Alma is a doting grandparent to Isabela, as she more often than anyone else calls Isabela perfect. Deconstructed since this attention causes Isabela to feel a crushing amount of responsibility to keep her grandmother happy and fulfill the role thrust upon her. This also disturbs the balance of the household since Isabela’s sisters and cousins all live in the shadow of "the perfect golden child."
• Dramatically Missing the Point: Alma sees the miracle they were granted as something that she and her family must prove to be worthy of and never take for granted. Except a miracle isn't a reward, it's a blessing. When Mirabel doesn't receive a gift, Alma becomes more driven by fear than love and becomes more and more focused on proving themselves worthy. This desire leads to rampant emotional instability, exhaustion and frustration among the family which, in turn, causes the magic to fade and the Casita to crack. Over time, Alma lost sight of the true point of the miracle...to allow her and her family to be safe and become a happy, loving family.
• Elemental Motifs: Fire. Alma is strongly associated with the everlasting flame of the candle, which she protects and cherishes. The flame design is embroidered in the dress and in her opening verse she identifies the family’s duty to keep the miracle burning. The one negative motif is the fire which singes the decoration Mirabel embroiders for her, which foreshadows her role as the physical antagonistic force in the film.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: One way that the movie shows how Alma changed over the years is with the difference in her hairstyles. In flashbacks to her younger self, she is warm and light-hearted and wears her hair in youthful twin braids, a style also seen on some other young female characters. In the present, she wears a more controlled, matronly style and is more reserved and focused on preserving the miracle.
• Fatal Flaw: Fear. Alma causes the story's conflict with her unrelenting desire to show that she and her family are worthy of the miracle they received by giving back to the community. She does this because she's afraid the house will crumble, the family will be homeless again, and Pedro's death will be in vain. Ironically, it is this fear that causes her to put too much pressure on the family and the resulting disharmony is what causes the magic to vanish.
• Formerly Fit: In the flashbacks during "Dos Oruguitas" she's shown as a slender young woman, but when the movie takes place, old age has rendered her noticeably plump.
• Freudian Excuse: Alma's motivation for keeping her family perfect is to prove that they're worthy of the miracle that saved her and her children after the death of husband at the soldiers when she was young.
• Freudian Excuse Denial: Surprisingly Averted. As Alma's past is what continues to motivate her up to this day, she's forced to admit to Mirabel that her traumatic past and the lost of her husband are what causing her motivation for perfecting her family and genuinely apologizes to her for hurting the family.
• Girlish Pigtails: Not currently, but she had these in her youth, where she was noticeably livelier and more cheerful.
• The Heavy: Alma's toxic perfectionism causes a great deal of stress on the family. The trope is downplayed because, although she is the main antagonist to Mirabel's efforts to save the miracle, Alma does not spend a lot of screen time being the heavy as the story focuses more on Mirabel.
• Heel Realization: The climax of the movie sees Alma finding the true cause of the Madrigal family falling apart: her own paranoia. Her fear created pressure for each family member to be perfect, resulting in a lot of tension. It's not until Mirabel spells it out for that Alma realizes what her actions have caused for herself and her family and is genuinely remorseful for it.
• Hero Antagonist: Alma is the sole active character in the film who could be labeled as an antagonist, unwittingly causing the Casita to crack by placing overwhelming pressure on her family and attempting to get Mirabel to drop her quest, believing her to be to blame for the magic dying. At the same time, Alma has not the slightest hint of malicious intent in any of her actions; she only wants to ensure the survival of her family and is blind to how counterproductive her methods are until Mirabel takes her to task.
• Hope Bringer: Deconstructed. Alma became this for the exiles at the inception of Encanto, who gather all around her as she first lifts the candle. For fifty years, she has held a position of authority and inspired the town to prosper, but not without a cost. She hasn’t allowed herself to mourn her grief openly, and her family is following in her footsteps. Her responsibility with the town even interferes with the family life, as the townsfolk demand to see her while Mirabel is still missing.
• Iconic Item: The magic candle was formed from the candle used at her wedding. She holds the magic candle constantly, in her magic door, the town mural, and during every gift ceremony. As the miracle was born out of her love for her family upon Pedro's death, it symbolizes the love the two have for each other and their family.
• I Was Quite a Looker: She has aged by no means poorly, given she is active and confirmed to be 75. Flashbacks show that she was a beautiful and slender woman full of life, not unlike renowned beauty Isabela.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Alma can be harsh, stubborn, and insensitive towards her family, especially Mirabel, but she does care about them all very deeply.
• The Leader: She is the matriarch of the Madrigal family and is seen as the unofficial leader of the Encanto. During the opening song "The Family Madrigal", Mirabel introduces her with the verse, "Let's be clear, Abuela runs the show."
• Mama Bear: Her love for her children and the desire for their safety was so great that it birthed the miracle which repelled Pedro's murderers. Following Pedro's death, Alma does everything she can to protect Encanto with the miracle that has been bestowed to her family.
• Man of the City: A female example. Alma and her magic helped the local village grow from nothing. She and her family use their magical gifts to keep the community safe and prosperous in the decades that follow (sometimes at the cost of their happiness) and are beloved by the townspeople in return.
• Meaningful Name:
  • "Alma" means "nurturing," and recalls the phrase Alma Mater, befitting her role as the original progenitor of the family.
  • "Alma" also means "soul", which in classical mythology is symbolized with butterfly wings. Butterflies are the animal totem of the Madrigal family. Along with Mirabel, Félix, and Camilo, this fits the religious theme naming of the family.
  • The name Alma recalls the Catholic concept of the Anima Sola (lonely soul). When Mirabel and Alma reconcile, she explicitly recognizes that Alma bore the sorrow of the loss of her home and her husband alone for fifty years.
• The Mourning After: She never truly got over Pedro's death, and instead directs all her grief into ensuring that his death was not in vain. Unfortunately, this resulted in a huge amount of pressure that drove Bruno away and caused noticeable damage to Pepa, Isabela, Luisa, Dolores, and Mirabel.
• My Beloved Smother: Alma's desire for the family to prove itself worthy of the miracle exerts pressure on Pepa, Isabela, Luisa, Dolores, and Mirabel to prioritize others before their own dreams and well-being.
• Never My Fault: Played with. It is very clear that Alma takes the responsibility of being granted a miracle very seriously and constantly guides her children and grandchildren to give back to the community to prove they are worthy of that miracle. Unfortunately, she has become so focused on this goal that she's grown unaware of the toll it is taking on her family. It takes Mirabel's Calling the Old Woman Out and a collapse of the miracle to get Alma to actually look around at how her family has been affected. At the river, Alma acknowledges that everything that's happened was her fault and is genuinely remorseful for it.
• No Sympathy: When her daughter Pepa is in a bad mood, Alma's method of dealing with it is to tell her to calm down so she won't make rain and thunder everywhere. Given that she seems to have been doing it for Pepa's entire life (about 50 years), it surely hasn't helped her anxiety levels.
  Alma: Pepa, calm down!
  Pepa: [with a heavy snow cloud hovering above her head] I'm doing my best! You're lucky it's not a hurricane!!
• Parental Favoritism: As the head of the household, Alma runs the show, and her judgments have a profound effect on the dynamics of the family. She favors golden child Isabela out of all grandchildren and this places a lot of pressure on her while at the same time making the other grandchildren feel inadequate living in Isabela's shadow. After failing to receive a gift, Mirabel quietly becomes The Unfavorite to Alma. She also has a complicated relationship with Bruno who never felt able to make her proud. While there’s no clear favoritism between her daughters, she does prefer Félix to Agustín as far as sons-in-law go.
• Parental Neglect: Unintentional, but Alma is quite neglectful with Pepa. Alma not only ignores her when she needs help, she also often negatively criticizes her daughter for her emotional tirades and often pesters Pepa to keep her emotions under control instead of supporting her properly.
• Parents as People: And grandparents. Ultimately, Alma's treatment towards her family isn't out of malice, but a combination of grief that was never fully expressed and fear of losing that which saved her, her children, and her community from those nameless horsemen. By her own admission, this fear and grief made her lose sight of what's really important...the safety and well-being of her family.
• The Perfectionist: Her obsession with everything in her home and her family to appear perfect puts a lot of pressure on everyone who struggles to live up to her impossibly high standards.
• Proper Lady: Deconstructed. She has an air of dignity about her in her later years, with her perfectly coiffed hair and buttoned-up dress, and her concern with preserving the miracle comes from a fear of loss for her family and community, but it backfires and leads to the family forgetting that those things are supposed to help them, rather than the other way around.
• Red Is Heroic: Zigzagged. Alma wears a deep violet in the present and in her youth wears a red skirt and red ribbons in her braids. She is the leader of the heroic Madrigal family and the entire Encanto considers her a town hero. Her intentions are always good, but her methods are mistaken. She is the major antagonistic force against Mirabel, but only because she thinks Mirabel is the one responsible for the fading of the magic.
• Shadow Archetype: Alma is this for both her daughters, as the fiercely loving mothers of three children. The difference is that Pepa and Julieta were able to enjoy marriage and parenthood with good men, whereas Alma lost her husband far too soon and had to raise her children alone. In her daughters, Alma sees the life she could have had.
• Shipper with an Agenda: Deconstructed. After Mirabel was not given a gift, Alma had to deal with a decade of uncertainty that the miracle would continue to bestow gifts on the Madrigal household. Once Antonio successfully receives his gift, Alma shows that she is quite invested in the engagement of Isabela and Mariano but, instead of talking about their happiness, seems to prioritize that "such a fine young man with our perfect Isabela will bring a new generation of magical blessings" to the Encanto.
• Slave to PR: She does genuinely want to help the people of the Encanto, but she's also hyper-focused on maintaining the Madrigal's reputation and their position as the most respected family in the town.
• Struggling Single Mother: Subverted. Her husband's death at the hands of the nameless horsemen left her widowed with three infants. When this happened, the Casita was miraculously bestowed upon her, and her children were given magical gifts, allowing the family to thrive.
• Survivor Guilt: Seems to be one of the reasons Alma focuses so much on the family proving itself worthy of the miracle. It's almost like it's a way for her to justify that her husband's death was not in vain.
• Team Mom: She is this for her children, her grandchildren, her sons-in-laws, and the entire town of Encanto, who all turn to her in moments of uncertainty and communal anxiety.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Alma begins the story as a controlling, harsh Apron Matron who treats Mirabel unfairly simply because she doesn't have a gift. By the end, after undergoing a Heel Realization, Alma genuinely apologizes to her family for her behavior with an intent to change her toxic attitude.
• Tough Leader Façade: As head of the Madrigals, Alma is the highest authority in the community. Although it appears she commands her family with unflappable grace, she has been bottling up feelings of grief for decades.
• Tragic Keepsake: She carries a locket with a picture of her late husband on her person at all times, and the weathering on the metal shows this is not a recent acquisition. The magic candle counts as well, since it is heavily implied to be the unity candle from her and Pedro’s wedding ceremony.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The cracks in the foundation are because of her unintentionally putting so much pressure on her family.
• Why Couldn't You Be Different?: After Mirabel became the only child to not receive a gift in her ceremony, Alma started to fear that the miracle will fade and began treating her granddaughter coldly. A deleted scene has her take this position explicitly with Bruno (then named Oscar).
• Widow's Weeds: Throughout most of the movie, she wears a black shawl as a symbol of mourning after Pedro died, as well as a symbol of her grief and fear of losing the rest of her family. When she begins to reconcile with Mirabel and start healing, she finally ditches it.
• Younger Than They Look: It's a blink and you'll miss it moment, but when she tells Mirabel the story of her past in full, she shows the effect Pedro's death had on her. She immediately removed the braids of her youth, and donned a dark shawl of mourning, which she wears the rest of her life. It has the effect of making her look like a mature woman, ten years older.

Pedro Madrigal

The deceased patriarch of the Madrigal family and Mirabel's grandfather.

• Deceased Parents Are the Best: He loved his wife and children and was willing to die to let them escape. In the present day he's never referred to as anything but a loving father and husband cementing this status for him.
• Disappeared Dad: His children and grandchildren never got to know him. The twist is that they also did not get to know the details of his death because Alma's grief was too great, and this contributed to a lack of understanding of her desire to be worthy of the miracle they were granted.
• Endearingly Dorky: When Alma reveals she is expecting triplets he pretends to faint in a goofy over-the-top way, but Alma is thoroughly amused and smitten. He passed this on to Bruno.
• Face Death with Dignity: The screenplay reveals that Pedro approaches the horsemen to plead for the lives of his family and the other refugees. He clearly realizes the danger and after kissing his wife and children, he walks serenely toward the horseman with his hands up, despite one of them brandishing a machete at him as soon as he tries to reason with them.
• The Lost Lenore: To Alma. They were deeply in love, and she misses him dearly; she hasn't remarried in all the time Pedro has been gone and still wears her mourning shawl on special occasions, such as the Gift Ceremony.
• Nice Guy: While Pedro doesn't get any dialogue and only shows up in flashbacks, it's clear he was a kind, loving, dedicated Family Man.
• One True Love: He's all but stated he was this for Alma. In the fifty years since his death, Alma has never remarried, despite having three small children. She still mourns him as if he died very recently and not half a century ago.
• Papa Wolf: Downplayed. When the horsemen started chasing after the survivors of their assaults on Pedro's hometown, he stayed behind in an attempt to plead with them for the lives of everyone to no avail.
• Posthumous Character: He's already long deceased, only appearing in flashbacks.
• The Power of Love: He loved Alma and the triplets so greatly that their mutual love and desire for their safety birthed the magic that repelled the horsemen threatening Alma, his children and the survivors and transformed the candle and the whole valley into the magical village refuge where the film takes place.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: He has large, dreamy dark eyes, especially so when he kisses his wife and children goodbye. He passed this trait on to his only son.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Pedro is only mentioned and physically seen in flashbacks a couple of times, but his death and Alma's love for him and their children caused the family to be blessed with magic and inadvertently caused Alma to become a stern matriarch who put severe pressure on her children that led to the plot of the film.
• Tareme Eyes: He has dreamy, dark eyes that (in contrast to his bride’s) noticeably droop downwards. He passed these on to his daughter, Julieta.
• The Voiceless: Pedro is the only Madrigal member who doesn't speak due to already having died and his appearances in flashbacks having no voice besides the music.
• White Shirt of Death: In contrast to the rest of his family who has a Rainbow Motif, Pedro wears a white shirt in his portrait and also wore one when he died. He is the only posthumous Madrigal in the film.

Casita

The Madrigals' family home, which is alive thanks to the same miracle that grants their gifts.

• Ambiguous Gender: Given Casita is a house, the gender of its consciousness or whether it has one at all is never revealed. The noun is grammatically feminine in the original Spanish.
• Benevolent Architecture: Quite literally. Casita can freely rearrange its common areas and is generally happy to help, for example turning a hall into a treadmill for Luisa's morning workout. It also uses the last of its energy as it's falling apart to make sure every Madrigal is unharmed, including shielding Mirabel from falling debris.
• Bigger on the Inside: Each gifted member of the Madrigals receives a room that matches their powers, which is much bigger than the space should allow.
• A Dog Named "Dog": "Casita" is Spanish for "Little House". So, this is a house named "little house".
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Inverted. Casita dies after forming a protective cradle around Mirabel.
• Empathic Environment: Casita's condition is tied to the emotional state of the Madrigals. It cracks and breaks to reflect their troubles and collapses entirely when their issues boil to the surface.
• Friend to All Children: It enjoys entertaining visiting children with its trick stairs, and among the Madrigal family it interacts the most with younger inhabitants. It's especially close to Mirabel, and very tender with Antonio when he gets stage fright during his ceremony. While it won't tolerate Camilo's impertinence, it literally tears itself apart to cushion his fall.
• Hub Level: A rare non-video-game example. The magic rooms can only be accessed from inside Casita. The rooms which make an appearance are even much larger than Casita itself but depend on it to exist. Furthermore, there’s no indication that the rooms can be accessed to and from each other.
• Pocket Dimension: Implied to be the nature of Casita’s magic rooms, which aren’t just Bigger on the Inside, they are also discrete entities that follow their own laws and respond to the will of their respective owners, but still depend on Casita to subsist. Casita can’t interfere inside the rooms, and Bruno’s room has fallen into disrepair following his absence. When the magic breaks for good, Antonio’s animal friends flee his room in a panic.
• The Power of Love: When the miracle first ignites, Casita was born to provide a place where the family can reside in safety and their love for each other sustains it. In the climax, after spending months rebuilding both the house and their broken relationships, the love of the reunited family sparks the second miracle transforming the house into their home and restoring Casita. This is symbolized by how the glowing front door now takes the place of the candle.
• Sapient House: Casita has a mind of its own and understands what people say to it, though it has to get a bit creative to respond. So did the design team, as the writers kept thinking up new ways for Casita to express itself.
• Silent Snarker: While Casita lacks a mouth to speak with, it can move its parts and fixtures to communicate. At Mirabel's comment that the house won't decorate itself, the flags in the room sag with disapproval. Co-producer/writer Jared Bush says that Casita itself is "opinionated and flawed like a family. It's a house that plays favorites, a house that messes with people."
• Surprise Slide Staircase: Casita has dominion over these and uses them to prevent children from approaching Antonio’s door before the gift ceremony. These become relevant at the climax of the film since Casita uses them to break Mirabel’s fall.
• Undying Loyalty: To the Madrigals. When the magic breaks for good, the house immediately spits out the entire family and seals itself shut to keep them away from the collapsing structure. Its last act is to create a shield around Mirabel to save her life and even waves goodbye to her.

Julieta and Agustín Madrigal

Mirabel's parents. Julieta's gift lets her heal others with the food she cooks.

Tropes that apply to both:

• Blue Is Heroic: Their signature color, and they are devoted members of the family and pillars of the community.
• Cuddle Bug: They are both very tender and affectionate. Agustín celebrates the reunion of the triplets by embracing all three at the same time, which is impressive given he is horribly bee-stung at the time. Julieta's love is also as warm and comforting as her food.
• Couple Theme Naming: Julieta is a form of the name Julius, while Agustín is a form of the name Augustus. Both were emperors of Rome. Both also lent their names to two consecutive months on the calendar: July and August.
• Florence Nightingale Effect: It's confirmed that thanks to Agustín being so accident-prone, he was in constant need of Julieta's gift which caused them to interact so often they fell in love.
• Good Parents: Julieta really means it when she assures Mirabel that, gift or no gift, she's as special as anyone in the family; Mirabel even parrots these words when confronted by the children asking if she was sad that she didn't get a gift. Agustín does his best to commiserate with Mirabel's plight as a fellow normal human and tried to console Luisa when her Gift was fading away. They are also willing to stand up to Alma for her mistreatment of Mirabel.
• Happily Married: While their relationship doesn't have much focus in the film, the moments they do have show they have a loving and stable marriage. They are constantly seen being physically affectionate and comforting to each other. Julieta heals Agustín's wounds without getting angry and Agustín proudly comments that Mirabel gets her spirit from Julieta.
• Nice Guy: And girl. Both are patient, pleasant, and attentive to their daughters. Julieta is clearly saddened that her brother lost his way and misses him.
• Women Are Wiser: Emphasis on wiser since Agustín isn't stupid, but Julieta is more perceptive and grounded. When the two try to comfort Mirabel before Antonio's gift ceremony, they both give her the same advice but Agustín quickly changes his expression from satisfied to concerned after catching sight of his wife who has read the situation better and realises Mirabel is still hurting.

Tropes that apply to Julieta:

• Amazingly Embarrassing Parent: Downplayed. But hilariously it's she and not dorky dad Agustín who embarrasses Mirabel with her kisses and compliments about her "cool glasses."
• Big Sister Instinct: Julieta misses Bruno and greatly laments that he lost his way. The moment she sees him return to the family, her face lights up and she rushes to embrace him.
• Blue Is Calm: It's a fitting color for the Only Sane Woman in her family to wear.
• Body Motifs: Hands. Julieta shares this motif with her mother, since they both share the role of Team Mom in the household, though Julieta does it less problematically. Julieta is often depicted holding her mortar and pestle and grinding healing herbs or else holding a plate of food. Within the family she often cups her daughter's cheek in her hand while kissing her, or else she holds someone's hand for comfort (especially Camilo and Bruno).
• The Caretaker: Her role in the family since she can heal people with her food. She also acts as the Team Mom of her family after Alma.
• Character Tics: Julieta has a tendency to clasp her hands together.
• Doting Parent: Julieta showers Mirabel with praises and compliments to the point it embarrasses her daughter. It's implied she is compensating for Alma's cold treatment, since Julieta also requests that her mother be nicer to Mirabel.
• Elemental Motifs: Herbs. She can usually be seen with them stuffed in the front pockets of her apron. Fitting both position as The Medic as the village doctor as many herbs have medicinal properties. And as a Supreme Chef as many herbs are used to add flavor to food.
• Family Eye Resemblance: Of her siblings, Julieta inherited their father's Tareme Eyes.
• Feminine Women Can Cook: She's a reserved, motherly and gentle Proper Lady and her gift consists of her making food that helps heal the injured folk.
• Food-Based Superpowers: The food she cooks can heal people.
• Health Food: A rare non-video game-related example. Julieta's power is to cook food that can heal when eaten, as when she feeds her magical arepa con queso to Mirabel to heal a cut on her palm. She also provides a non-traditional fantasy example of a Healing Potion.
• The Heart: She shares this role with her youngest daughter. Not for nothing, Agustín notes that Mirabel takes after Julieta, whose role it is to feed and heal the family.
• Heart Symbol: Her mural and dress both have heart symbols, symbolizing her loving and nurturing nature.
• Iconic Item: Her mortar and pestle, she is often holding it for grinding herbs, and has it woven on her dress. To a lesser extent, a dish of arepas, which represent her on Mirabel's dress.
• Mama Bear: Julieta defends Mirabel from Alma's harsh treatment towards her. She was also willing to scale up a crumbling Casita to save Mirabel.
• The Medic: Naturally, this is Julieta's role, not only among the Madrigals but towards the community as a whole. If anyone gets an injury, she uses her powers to heal them.
• Only Sane Woman: The co-director Byron Howard says Julieta "got it the most together" out of all Madrigals.
• Patchwork Kids: Downplayed. Julieta takes mostly after her mother in appearance but because she was the only one among her siblings to inherit their father's Tareme Eyes, Julieta also resembles Pedro to an extent.
• Prim and Proper Bun: Downplayed. Julieta wears her hair up in a bun as would be appropriate for a chef, though hers is not as tight as most examples; it indicates that she is put-together but not strict.
• Proper Lady: She is by far the most sensible and patient member of the family and is dedicated to them and the community.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: This becomes most apparent during the proposal dinner. Every time a family member learns about Mirabel's presence in Bruno's vision, they are overcome with fear, shock, and panic...except for Julieta, who does not lose her composure or jump to conclusions.
• Significant Birth Date: According to Word of God the triplets were born on October 17th, the first day of the 1000 Days War.
• Superpower Lottery: Of Alma's three children, she's the only one who received a powerful gift with no drawbacks.
• Supreme Chef: Julieta's cooking is by all accounts magical. Camilo in particular can't get enough of it.
• Tareme Eyes: Compared to her feistier sister, Julieta's eyes noticeably droop downwards, befitting her calm and motherly personality. She gets this from her father.
• Team Mom: She plays this role even more traditionally than her own mother. She provides nourishment and healing to her family (especially her accident-prone husband); she also provides a voice of reason and comfort to the more dramatic family members. She has a soft spot for family prankster Camilo and can be seen holding his hand during Antonio's gift ceremony. She speaks about Bruno in unambiguously sympathetic terms and is the only one who truly seems to miss him. She stands up to Alma in defense of Mirabel without losing her temper.
• True Blue Femininity: Her signature color is a lovely shade of teal. She is maternal, nurturing, and patient. Her role in the family is to feed and heal everyone.

Tropes that apply to Agustín:

• Acting Unnatural: When he tells Mirabel to "act normally" after seeing Bruno's vision of her, he can barely hold it together himself during dinner. Shown when he is almost robotically moving his arm to grab cream and is struggling to keep his smile on.
• Amusing Injuries: His accident-prone nature frequently leaves him with bee stings that comically swell-up his body parts.
• Animal Motif: Agustín is associated with bees. Constantly getting stung by them shows his accident-prone nature, but they also show his other more noble traits. Such as his humility and diligence and a tendency to sting when his children are threatened.
• Big Brother Instinct: Inverted. Agustín is the brother-in-law of Pepa and Bruno, and is younger than both of them, but also significantly taller. When Bruno returns to the family, he welcomes him with open arms and lifts the siblings in a huge hug, celebrating that the triplets have reunited.
• Bumbling Dad: Agustín is a poignant subversion. He has most of the associated ingredients for this trope: he is endearingly dorky, suffers from amusing injuries that his wife constantly has to treat, and is not as observant as her. However, under the surface, Agustín is a very attentive husband and father who demonstrates incredible maturity and humility at being normal in an exceptional family, and when push comes to shove is willing to stand up to Alma to protect Mirabel.
• Butt-Monkey: Agustín has really bad luck and not just when it comes to his horrifying allergic reactions to bee stings. Of the In-laws, Alma prefers Félix over him. Coatimundi steal his pocket watch. He can’t keep up with Camilo and Félix’s moves during their dance number. For the family picture during Antonio’s party, he is the only person to close his eyes when the flash goes off!
• City Mouse: The Art of Encanto quotes art director Bill Schwab as calling Agustín a "city boy", which is why he seems so awkward and dresses more formally than his in-laws.
• Endearingly Dorky: In contrast to the smooth and suave Félix, Agustín is dorky and clumsy, but Julieta is deeply in love with him. Mirabel also finds her dad’s ways amusing.
• Establishing Character Moment: Agustín tries to chop a block of wood but instead disturbs a swarm of bees which sting him mercilessly. Agustín has no magic gift but is happy to be of service in a humble way. Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop him from being the victim of freak accidents of nature.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: It's very difficult to see, but he wears mismatched socks, one to represent Luisa and the other to represent Mirabel. Coupled with one of Isabela's flowers on his vest, it represents the love for his daughters.
• Ironic Name: Ironic last name that is, but according to Word of God, it's Rojas, which means red. Agustín dresses almost entirely in blue.
• Jaw Drop: Does this when he sees Mirabel looking at Bruno's vision of her standing in front of a crumbling Casita.
• The Klutz: Agustín is very accident-prone. It explains why he is such a good match for Julieta, since he constantly needs her healing powers.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Saint Augustine is one of the Fathers of the Church; among his many contributions to theology was the belief that pride causes a rupture in humanity's relationship with God. Agustín both practices humility in being unexceptional and encourages Mirabel the same way.
  • Folklore associates the name Agustín with "angustias" (anguish). He often suffers from injuries. It pairs well with both his brother-in-law Félix, whose name means lucky, and his niece Dolores, whose name means sorrows.
• Papa Wolf: Downplayed. Once he learns that Mirabel is part of Bruno's prophecy about the magic dying, he tries to keep it just between the two of them until after the proposal dinner. Once Alma scolds him from keeping the prophecy from her, he angrily stands up to her with "I was thinking of my daughter!" He was also willing to scale up a crumbling Casita to save Mirabel from it as well, but Casita pushed him and the other family members out to safety.
• Secret-Keeper: He was the first person to learn about Mirabel being part of Bruno's prophecy and decides to keep it a secret until after the proposal dinner. When called out by Alma for not "thinking of the family" and telling her immediately, he yells out that he was "thinking about his daughter" instead.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Agustín wears a suit in all his scenes, even while chopping wood.
• Significant Birth Date: Doubly so. June 19 is Father's Day in Colombia, and Agustín is a devoted father.

Isabela Madrigal

^{Click here to see Isabela's new look in the end.}

The oldest daughter of Julieta and Agustín, and the eldest of all the Madrigal grandchildren. Her gift lets her psychically grow a wide variety of plants, mostly flowers.

• Affectionate Nickname:
  • While she and Mirabel may not be on the best of terms, she does sometimes refer to her as "Isa."
  • Her uncle Félix calls her "our angel."
  • Mariano calls her "the most perfect flower."
• Aloof Big Sister: At first, since the only time she seems to notice Mirabel is when she's in the way, whether it's her fault or not. It's a mask.
• Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: The pale purple color and layered ruffles of Isabela's dress seem to invoke the appearance of a jacaranda, a flower native to Colombia. In fact, she mentions and creates this flower during her song "What Else Can I Do?"
• Berserk Button: As Mirabel finds out, accusing her of being "selfish" is enough for Isabela to lose her composure and to go off an angry rant about how frustrating being the golden child has made her life.
• Big Sister Instinct:
  • She is protective of Mirabel, even though they are usually at odds with each other. This is mostly shown when she gets her sister away from a carnivorous plant she grew during her big song number and was shown to be visibly worried when she noticed Mirabel was still inside the crumbling Casita.
  • Although she doesn't interact as much with Luisa, it's clear that Isabela thinks highly of her sister and cares about her. She was shown to be concerned towards Luisa when she is crying during the proposal dinner and was upset with Mirabel on Luisa's behalf when the latter's Super-Strength was fading.
  • Isabela is not very affectionate with her family for most of the film, but she proves to be very affectionate with her cousin Dolores from the beginning. During Antonio's gift ceremony, she is seen holding Dolores' hand while hugging her reassuringly for most of the ceremony.
• Body Motifs: Hair. When she awakens, her hair flourishes like in an angelic wave. Mirabel claims she's never had a bad hair day, and she often flips her hair and scatter petals from it. When she is nervous, flowers sprout from it. Her swinging from vines recalls Rapunzel swinging from her own hair. And when she admits her true self, she dyes her hair different colors.
• Born Lucky: Mirabel accuses Isabela of this, having a great life, being effortlessly perfect and never having so much as a bad hair day. Most notably, Bruno, The Dreaded of Encanto, prophesized before the age of eleven that the life of her dreams would come to pass. Deconstructed since Isabela resents the circumstances of her life, which have severely damaged her relationship with her little sister and pushed her into marriage by default with the most handsome man in town, a marriage she doesn't want.
• Broken Ace: She's attractive, beloved by her family and the townsfolk, and very skilled with her magical gift of growing plants. In the song "The Family Madrigal", Mirabel even describes her as the "golden child", though later on, she derisively calls her "Señorita Perfecta"… But she doesn't particularly enjoy her status as the golden child of the family, feeling like she's under constant pressure to be the best and being unable to express herself in any other way.
• Cold Ham: Isabela has a very calm and composed Proper Lady persona. Contrasting this serenity is the outlandish amounts of flowers she brings with her and the dramatic way she wields her power over flowers.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Proper Lady and Dutiful Daughter. Isabela is initially presented as the "perfect golden child"; beautiful, graceful, dressed in a stunning flowing skirt, and has the gift of creating beautiful flowers whenever she pleases. It is taken for granted that she will marry the most handsome man in town and bring a new generation of magic blessings to the family. However, as the story deals with the unspoken dysfunction that is present in the family, it is revealed that Isabela is sick of being pretty and perfect, tired of using her gift to only create beautiful flowers, and was only going to marry Mariano because of her feelings of family obligation. Her character development sees her rejecting perfection, giving herself a makeover that reflects her artistic spirit, and expanding her gift to be able to work with plants beyond pretty flowers.
• Eccentric Artist: Isabela's gift is an art form in practice, and she has grown bored with simply creating the same pretty flowers over and over. After releasing her true feelings, she covers herself in splatters of colored pollen and shows her interest in new plants as strange, unbroken ground. In the closing scene, she celebrates the return of her gift by adding more eye-popping colors to her dress.
• Elemental Motifs: Botany. Throughout the film, she is primarily accompanied by flower petals, flowery vines and a whole host of brightly colored flowers that decorate nearly every surface she comes across to the point where her room is wall-to-wall covered in cultivated florists' flowers. While flowers are a conventional symbol for beauty, too many of them make them come across as tacky, reflecting that while she is conventionally beautiful and reflects the ideal Proper Lady, her attempts at covering up her more nuanced interests makes her seem shallow and vain. When she starts being honest with Mirabel, it ends up conjuring a cactus, an abrasive, "not perfect, but beautiful" plant. Soon she starts conjuring a diverse ecosystem of other forms of plants — including other cactuses, succulents, trees and carnivorous plants — as she starts opening up more and more.
• Emotional Powers: Though she has much more control over her power than Pepa, it's shown a few times that strong emotions can trigger Isabela's gift, such as when flowers sprout on her head when Dolores tells her that Mariano wants five children with her. Her blowing up at Mirabel for ruining the proposal dinner causes her to grow a cactus and leads her to realize she can grow more than pretty blossoms.
• Flowers of Femininity: She wears flowers in her hair, has floral patterns on her dress and is associated with flowers in general due to her power over plants, while generally being the most girly of the family. Later in the movie, she makes a point of growing less feminine plants like cacti to show how she's becoming more honest with herself.
• Girlish Pigtails: It's a blink and you'll miss it moment, but an old picture frame of a young Isabela shows her having pigtails on the day she received her gift.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: This really comes to show once she realizes she doesn't have to be perfect all the time, as by the end of the film, she still dresses in a feminine manner, but her style has more of a punk vibe - her dress is now royal blue with wild splatters of other colors and she has dyed streaks of color into her hair. She also uses her gift to grow other plants besides the Flowers of Femininity she's typically associated with.
• Gorgeous Garment Generation: A variation. She doesn't change her dress, but she enhances it by using pollen to dye it different colors. The end result represents her embracing her true self.
• Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Her signature color is mauve (light purplish pink), mixing this trope with Pink Is Feminine.
• Green-Eyed Monster: It's heavily implied that Isabela's hostility towards Mirabel is fueled not by disdain, but envy. Since Mirabel doesn't have a gift, she's not under the same pressure to live up to the expectations of being the "perfect golden child" 24/7 and Isabela envies the relaxed demands that Mirabel faces.
• Green Thumb: Her magical gift is that she can summon and grow plants. She mainly uses it to grow "pretty" flowers to beautify her surroundings and summon vines to swing on. Later in the movie, she makes a point of creating less traditionally feminine plants like cacti when she becomes honest with herself.
• Hair Flip: Flips her hair at one point when decorating the stairs with flowers, but it ends up hitting Mirabel, so she gets a face full of flowers.
• Important Haircut: Not a haircut per se, but when her hair goes from black to multicolored it serves a similar purpose, showing that she has stopped living only to satisfy her family's expectations and has started doing things for her own enjoyment.
• Innocent Soprano: She has a light soprano voice both in speaking and singing, and acts the part of a very feminine, perfect older sister and dutiful wife-to-be.
• Irony: She's a botanist who was never allowed to play in the dirt.
• I Take Offense to That Last One: When Mirabel thinks she has to hug her sister Isabela to save the family's magic, she goes to apologize, but her lingering resentment over Isabela's (seemingly) perfect life causes the apology to turn sarcastic, starting an argument. Mirabel even shouts at Isabela that the latter is a "selfish, entitled princess". Isabela gasps at the word "selfish" and goes into an angry rant about how she never actually wanted to marry Mariano, but Isabela doesn't react negatively to the "entitled" accusation, only the "selfish" part.
• Jerkass to One: While she can be rather aloof to the younger members of her family, Isabela especially shows some resentment and disdain towards her sister Mirabel at various points. While Mirabel feels like no love is lost between them, it's clear Isabela is harsher to her than anyone else in the family.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Isabela is notably rude and haughty towards her youngest sister Mirabel, and can be quite a grump. But she does have a genuine love for her family (including Mirabel) and becomes kinder by the end of the movie.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: She has beautiful hair that's shiny, waist-length and perfectly straight. Her sister Mirabel snarks that she's "never even had a bad hair day."
• Magic Skirt: Her dress skirt always stays down, even as she's swinging upside down by her vines.
• Meaningful Appearance: Isabela has a teardrop beauty mark under her left eye. It's symbolic that she has resigned herself to an unhappy life married to a man she doesn't love for the sake of the family.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Isabela contains a homophone for beautiful, and her gift is used to bring beauty to Encanto. Isabela is the Latinized form of the biblical name Elizabeth, which means "God is my vow". Isabela feels pressured to set aside her happiness for her obligation to serve the interests of her family and the Encanto.
  • Isabela shares a Marian theme with Mariano and Dolores. Mariano is a masculine derivative of Mary. In the Bible Mary and Elizabeth are cousins. It's a clue that Isabela and Mariano are not meant for each other romantically and they are better off as cousins-in-law.
  • Isabela is composed of over half the names of both her sisters, Luisa and Mirabel. The two have always lived in the shadow of their perfect sister.
  • Her original name, Inés, also has a theme associated with her character. Inés/Agnes often can mean "beautiful, pure, lamb of God", and it befits Isa portraying an image of perfection of herself all the time. It also contrasts with Bruno, who is the Black Sheep of the family.
• Nonconformist Dyed Hair: "What Else Can I Do" ends with her playing in some colored pollen that dyes her clothes and hair in a variety of bright colors, such as yellow and lime green. She keeps the new style to signify her new, more rebellious nature and her interest in being more than the "perfect golden child", and it stands out compared to the other members of her family (who are all dark-haired).
• Not So Stoic: She tries to remain poised and graceful, but one of the few times this mask breaks is when Dolores reports that Mariano wants five babies with her. Her shocked expression is pretty understandable, especially when she never wanted to marry him in the first place.
• Petal Power: Played for Laughs when she flicks blossoms into Camilo's open mouth when he makes kissy faces at her in Mariano's form. Still funny, but more serious when the flowers she grows outright wallop the real Mariano in the face.
• Pimped-Out Dress: Her dress is made from layers of translucent fabric embroidered with a variety of intricate flowers. It contributes to her ethereal beauty and reputation as perfect.
• Pink Means Feminine: As evocative of her Girly Girl persona, the color she's associated with is pink. She wears a pink dress, the flowers she often summons are pink, red and associated colors and she is the most conventionally feminine and beautiful woman in her family. When she embraces her true self, her dress is dyed dark blue and her hair is dyed various other colors, abandoning her traditional femininity for a more independent sense of self.
• Power Incontinence: Although not to her aunt Pepa's extent, Isabela's power is linked to her emotions. Flowers suddenly sprout on her head in surprise when told how many children Mariano wants to have with her, and when she hits a rant-inducing slight in her argument with Mirabel, she sprouts blossoms that hit her sister in the face.
• Primp of Contempt: Played with. Isabela appears in the Casita courtyard to replace the flowers that Pepa ruined with her bad weather. She intended to conclude her grand entrance with a stylistic hair flip that Mirabel ruins by being too close to her sister and getting in the way. With an eye-roll, Isabela turns her hair flip into this trope as she haughtily (but accurately) points out that Mirabel is trying too hard and getting in people's way.
• Proud Beauty: Deconstructed and subverted. At first glance, she seems to fit the trope to a T from her clear vanity to charismatic entrances to occasional hair flips and Aloof Big Sister attitude to being admired by the town and her family alike. But on the inside, she feels incredibly pressured on having to be perfect all the time and is only acting in such a way to please her family (particularly her Abuela).
• Shipper on Deck: She is giddy (along with Mirabel) when Dolores and Mariano become an Official Couple.
• Shrine to Self: Subverted. Her room is full of flower sculptures of herself, but they are not there for Isabela to celebrate her vanity but so that she can perfect her practiced poses. During her musical number, she destroys one with immense glee.
• Significant Birth Date: According to Word of God, Isabela's birthday is August 7th, the Battle of Boyacá day, which is considered the beginning of Colombian independence. Isabela's character arc revolves around finding her own freedom to express herself.
• Sliding Scale of Beauty: World Class Beauty or Divine Level. She is considered a very beautiful woman; multiple characters comment on her beauty, even calling her "perfect," most graceful, and "our angel," and the heroine is overtly jealous. According to Mirabel, she has never had a bad hair day. She even has the gift to make the town more beautiful with magic flowers.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Isabela is almost unparalleled in beauty, but all everyone does is expect her to look pretty like her flowers. She does not like being treated as just a pretty face.
• Stepford Smiler: She is the "golden child" and constantly has a smile on her face, but upon rewatch, it becomes clear that she's doing a lot of this to keep Alma happy, like when learns that Mariano wants 5 children and Alma wholeheartedly endorses that decision.
  Isabela: I make perfect, practiced poses. So much hides behind my smile.
• Talk to the Hand: Used to great effect after she flicks flowers into Camilo's open mouth. She's clearly exasperated at his taunting and doesn't want to hear anything more from him.
• Took a Level in Badass: Isabela begins the movie seemingly only being able to grow perfectly shaped flowers. An argument with Mirabel reveals that Isabela can grow other types of flora that don't look like they came from the florist's.
• Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Due to the high expectation and pressures Isabela faces from Alma, she is grumpy and unsatisfied with her position. Discovering her new powers and reconciling with Mirabel, Isabela becomes a happier and cheerier person.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Isabela starts off as a smug, insulting Aloof Big Sister to Mirabel, but becomes kinder and more supportive to the latter when she embraces her true self during "What Else Can I Do".
• The Tragic Rose: Subverted. Isabela has power over all beautiful flowers, and boasts she grows rows and rows of roses... the moment she realizes she doesn’t have to resign herself to an unhappy life in a loveless marriage and a perfect facade. Immediately after, though, Alma cows her and Luisa into submission and later she loses her powers completely. She gets her happy ending after all and becomes free to experiment with all kinds of flora.
• The Unsmile: She is a world-class beauty, but the expression she makes when Mariano proposes to her is positively terrifying. At first, it looks like she's embarrassed by the shenanigans occurring all around her on what is supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life, but in reality this is one of the saddest days of her life, since she doesn't want to marry Mariano, but she is sacrificing her happiness for the sake of the family.
• Vine Swing: Isabela has quite a fondness for making a whole performance out of using vines to move around, in a manner reminiscent of aerial silks. She can also use them offensively, literally dragging Mirabel out of her room with vines.
• Vocal Evolution: After her "Gaining Confidence" Song where she gains the courage to be more open and honest about herself, her voice is noticeably more gritty than the usual calm and proper tone she had been using for most of the movie beforehand.
• Wakeup Makeup: Doubles as an Establishing Character Moment. Our first look at her is during the song, "Family Madrigal" where she's shown just waking up with a look of haughty elegance and tossing her long shiny hair.
• "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Isabela is very fearful of disappointing her grandmother and is even willing to marry someone she doesn't love just to make her proud.
• When She Smiles: Isabela's normal smiles are quite pretty, but often come across as condescending. Her wide, truly happy grin when she becomes more honest with herself and finally experiments with her powers to create more than just pretty flowers makes her even more attractive.
• World's Most Beautiful Woman: While she is definitely treated as such in the secluded town of Encanto, this trope is made explicit in the French and Spanish language dubs, which contrast her with the world's strongest woman Luisa, and Mirabel calls the two beauty and muscle unmatched and perfected. Deconstructed since it leads everyone to expect her to marry Mariano, the most handsome man in town, and she feels pressured to do it even though she doesn't truly love him.

Luisa Madrigal

The middle daughter of Julieta and Agustín. Her gift gives her Super-Strength.

• Amazonian Beauty: Luisa has a very muscular build, and during her reggaeton music number she busts some seriously sensual dance moves with her donkey backup dancers. Also combined with Brawn Hilda, being very strong.
• Animal Motif: Luisa is associated with donkeys, and, like a pack animal, people rely on her to do tireless, heavy work. Donkeys are also enormously hardy beasts of burdens, but also docile and gentle. In addition, the donkey is a biblical symbol for service, suffering, peace, and humility.
• Badass Adorable: Luisa is a big, tough, and strong young woman, but she's also a huge sweetheart and a lot more vulnerable than she appears.
• The Big Gal: Is this to the Madrigal family, being an Amazonian Beauty and a Brawn Hilda gifted with Super-Strength her daily chores include things like fixing leaning buildings, carrying a large number of donkeys on her shoulders, and moving bridges and churches.
• Big Little Sister: Luisa is younger than Isabela, but towers over her.
• Big Sister Instinct: The Disney Acid Sequence during Luisa's song "Surface Pressure" shows her imagining various situations where she saves or protects Mirabel from danger, and she directly tells Mirabel to "give it to your sister, your sister's older". Deconstructed because the entire song is about how much responsibility she feels obligated to live up to because of this. She truly does care about Mirabel, as in the climax, she can be heard calling anxiously for her little sister, who has run away after Casita collapsed.
• Brawn Hilda: Combined with Amazonian Beauty and played with, being muscular and manly yet beautiful, cute and sweet.
• Body Motifs: Arms. While Luisa is muscular all over, the greatest emphasis is placed on her biceps and arm lifts high above her head. She often poses like Atlas, which symbolizes the huge weight she holds above her.
• Broken Ace: Luisa is the World's Strongest Woman known and respected for said strength and her reliable character. She's also a Cool Big Sis to Mirabel. Nevertheless, her "Surface Pressure" song reveals that she is crushing under the weight of expectations placed on her, has a complex where she believes she is worthless unless she is being ceaselessly useful and is nearing a massive mental breakdown.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: Luisa may be a musclebound woman capable of effortlessly breaking boulders, but she's also kind-hearted and always willing to lend a hand. She also carries a lot of self-worth issues, and when her gift starts to fail her it sends her running into her room in tears.
• Character Catchphrase: "I'm on it!" or some variation thereof. This is her response to any chore given to her, befitting her diligence and reliability.
• Contralto of Strength: She's the strong one, with Super-Strength and gigantic biceps to match, and she has the lowest voice of all the women and girls in the movie.
• Cool Big Sis: She is decently close to Mirabel, and most of her personal song has her protecting her little sister from various threats. It appears they are close enough that she at least admits that she is stressing out. It was confirmed by the writers that Mirabel is Luisa's favorite sister.
• Cuddle Bug: Is an openly affectionate big sister to Mirabel, giving her hugs after she lets off her stress. Likely in part as an apology for unloading her feelings on her.
• Effortless Amazonian Lift: She's seen lifting a wagon, several donkeys, and two pianos with ease, and even moving a stone bridge. She even nudges over a house by simply pushing it with her foot while carrying said donkeys.
• Elemental Motifs: Earth. At the start of "Surface Pressure", she compares herself to the Earth's crust and how she "flattens" diamonds and platinum. Earth is the humblest of the elements, which befits Luisa’s quiet and serviceable personality, but she is also characterized by being unflinchingly strong and resilient, seeing herself as a sort of bedrock for the community as she uses her strength to uphold it. Unfortunately, she is proven to be very brittle as well, the pressure of being everyone's "rock" leaving her a Nervous Wreck hiding under a façade of stoicism. When her strength falters even for a little bit, her confidence shatters entirely and she spends most of the movie as a sobbing mess, even crumbling onto the floor.
• Gentle Giant: She towers over her family members and can crush boulders without breaking a sweat, but is also docile, helpful and quick to apologize for so much as raising her voice. The contrast is perhaps best exemplified in her Disney Acid Sequence musical number, where after having smashed a huge iceberg in one punch, she takes a second to gently adjust Mirabel's glasses.
• Hairstyle Inertia: Luisa wears the same bun hairstyle she had at five.
• Hidden Depths: She is introduced as the muscle of the Madrigals; then, her musical number shows her knowledge of history and Greek mythology.
• Iconic Item: Dumbbells and barbells. She holds them in her mural and magic door, and they are emblematic of her strength.
• Inelegant Blubbering: She keeps her stress and anxiety bottled up. But when she starts to lose her gift, she crumbles and is brought to a sobbing, wailing undignified mess.
• Mature Younger Sibling: Downplayed. She is the middle child and Isabela is not exactly someone immature, but as shown in her song, Luisa seems to take on the role of older sister more than any other, being her the one who falls on all the responsibilities, the heavy work, and above all the protection of her family.
• Meaningful Name: Luisa means 'fierce/renowned warrior', and she is a heroic character and "the strong one."
• Middle Child Syndrome: A tweet by one of the directors says that Luisa is the middle child between oldest "golden child" Isabela and youngest child Mirabel and implies that this is part of why she feels so much pressure to be helpful. In her song, she asks little Mirabel to let her carry her burdens and says that she thinks her ability to carry those burdens are the only thing worthwhile about her.
• Muscles Are Meaningful: Though her Super-Strength is magically gifted and goes far beyond regular human strength, she still has noticeable biceps and arm muscles to emphasize just how strong she is (she's been described as having the biggest biceps of any Disney character, ever). At the end, as the depowered family rebuilds the Casita, she is still doing a lot of heavy lifting, now with the help of the others though.
• Mythical Motifs: Downplayed, but she's associated with Classical Mythology in her song "Surface Pressure", lifting a massive globe like Atlas and comparing herself to Hercules.
• Nervous Tics: When confronting Luisa about the magic being off, Mirabel points out she knows Luisa is nervous about something because her eye twitched. It apparently never twitches unless she's nervous, which Dolores had pointed out.
• Nervous Wreck: Luisa's song "Surface Pressure" reveals she's becoming this, as she too is noticing things out of the ordinary around the house like Mirabel, amidst her constant responsibilities for the town.
• Nice Girl: Luisa is a kind, helpful person who will even apologize for just raising her voice.
• Nigh-Invulnerable: During her musical number, she throws a boulder into the air and lets it fall right on top of her just to demonstrate how physically tough she is.
• Power Loss Depression: Obviously, none of the Madrigal family is thrilled at the idea of losing their powers, but Luisa takes the prospect the worst. As someone who defines herself by helping others, the idea of not being as strong and therefore as useful makes her bawl.
• Prone to Tears: Becomes this when the magic began to fade and she feels weaker. It shows how much she's bought into the mindset that she is only defined by her gift. So when she finds she can't lift the heavy loads or be able defend her family it makes her question her self-worth, leading to her depression.
• The Reliable One: Always ready to help with whoever asks. That said, it's starting to drag on her, and she wonders whether at some point she'll collapse under all the strain. Her song "Surface Pressure" reflects that, constantly asking what will be the straw that will finally break the camel's back. She also admits that she wants to be helpful to everyone and while the strain is getting to her, she feels like she'll be nothing if she can't offer aid to anyone.
• Samaritan Syndrome: Luisa feels obligated to prove her usefulness and constantly goes out of her way to help people with her super strength, even for more mundane tasks that the villagers could have done themselves. This makes the town more dependent on her services while Luisa herself refuses to rest, which only increases the insecurities she was trying to bury.
• Significant Birth Date: November 14th, the Day of the Colombian woman, after national martyr, Policarpa Salavarrieta, who embodied Luisa's greatest qualities: strength, resilience, and self-sacrifice.
• Small Parent, Huge Child: Being the musclebound Gentle Giant with Super-Strength, she towers over everyone else in the Madrigal family, and this includes her parents Julieta and Agustín.
• Statuesque Stunner: Luisa is the tallest of her family as well being an Amazonian Beauty.
• Stepford Smiler: Like Isabela, Luisa often hides her neuroses and unhappiness under confident grins, such as when she's brightly smiling during the final verses of "Surface Pressure" despite making it clear how unhappy and frightened she feels earlier in the song.
• Suddenly Shouting: As Mirabel hounds Luisa to admit she knows something is wrong with the magic, she stressfully shouts that nothing is wrong, shocking Mirabel. She does quickly apologize for raising her voice.
• Super-Strength: Her magical gift. She carries various heavy objects such as a wagon and two pianos, in the second trailer, a stone bridge, and even a church. Her simply stomping during "Surface Pressure" is enough to shake the ground and boulders around her. The uncanny way that objects don't realistically deform under such feats is very evident, with things not breaking unless she's trying to break them.
• Third-Person Person: Only done once, when she tries to assure Mirabel that "magic's fine, Luisa's fine, everything's fine". Like her nervous tic, it's a clear sign that nothing's fine.
• Tomboyish Voice: Her voice is rather deep to go with her traditionally masculine physique.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: She has a powerfully muscular build and is proud of her strength and muscles. She also wears the same traditional women's garb as Mirabel and Dolores, including earrings and a hair ribbon. She's shown to be something of a crybaby when she gets upset and even fantasizes about relaxing with adorable unicorn donkeys.
• Twitchy Eye: One that lasts all night and is loud enough for Dolores to hear. It’s the first real clue Mirabel obtains about her family’s dysfunction.
• World's Strongest Woman: She compares herself explicitly to Trope Codifier Hercules, and eagle-eyed viewers will notice similarities in her design (particularly around the neck) with Disney's own version of Hercules. Deconstructed since Luisa has come to base her entire self-worth on her strength and her ability to use it to help others.
• Younger Than They Look: Her muscular physique makes her look more mature and adult-like, but she's actually the middle sister and younger than Isabela. Official material reveals she's nineteen, two years Isabela's junior.

Mirabel Madrigal

^{Click here to see Mirabel as a child.}

The youngest daughter of Julieta and Agustín and the main heroine. For some unknown reason, she's the only Madrigal child who didn't get a gift. Despite her insecurities about her lack of magic, she still tries to contribute to her beloved family in any way she can.

• Action Survivor: Mirabel isn't much of a fighter, but she is scrappy, and through her wits and agility, she's able to navigate rather treacherous areas of Casita when trying to learn what's causing the magic to fade, including going into Bruno's abandoned room, full of stairs and falling sand, with holes in the platform at the top and, towards the end, successfully getting the candle from the window in a quickly falling-apart Casita.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Julieta frequently calls Mirabel "Mira." She also calls her "corazón" (my heart) and "cosa linda" (pretty thing).
  • Agustín calls her "Miraboo".
  • Played for Drama with Alma who calls her "mi vida" (my life) moments before the botched gift ceremony. Afterwards, Alma would treat Mirabel coldly.
  • Bruno calls her "kid" to convey the affection he has for her.
• Alliterative Name: Mirabel Madrigal. She's the only family member with such alliteration.
• All-Loving Heroine: Mirabel is already a Nice Girl, a friend to all children, and a devoted member of the Madrigal family, but throughout the film she proves the extent of her compassion. Most importantly, after Alma outright admits it was her fault the family and house are broken, Mirabel immediately forgives her.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Mirabel is genuinely loved by her family, and they never treat her with any disdain for being magicless sans Alma, and even that is more misguided and based on complex, trauma-induced reasons. However, the fact she is the only daughter of the Madrigal without a gift, this has made her to be a little left aside within her family circle, mainly by her grandmother. During Antonio's ceremony she tries to stay hidden, and no one in her family notices her absence from the family photo. In addition, although she gets along with the children of the town, the adults do not seem to have the best view of her, Osvaldo refers to her as "the not special one of the family", mentioning her ceremony as a failure (although, his statement was more Innocently Insensitive), and when she tries to warn people about the cracks in the wall of the house, a pair of judging glances can be seen.
• Amateur Sleuth: Downplayed. This stand-alone example has her going on her own little quest to solve the mystery behind why Casita is cracking and save her family.
• Animal Motifs: Her outfit incorporates a number of butterfly designs. Butterflies are also a recurring theme in the plot.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Mirabel is the youngest child on Julieta's side. And before Antonio was born, she was the youngest child of the Madrigal family.
• Bad Bedroom, Bad Life: Played with. Because she never got a Gift, she never received a room like every other family member. She remains in the nursery, which is warm, spacious, secure, and comfortable. Despite it being a pleasant bedroom, it serves as a constant reminder of her giftless status and that she apparently isn't valued enough to have her own private, non-magical space in the Casita.
• Bespectacled Cutie: She's the first Disney Animated Canon female protagonist, and the fourth Disney protagonist overall (after Milo Thatch, Chicken Little, and Lewis Robinson) to have glasses, which emphasize her dorky and "imperfect" nature.
• Big Sister Instinct:
  • Technically, they're cousins, but Mirabel helps soothe Antonio's nerves during his gift ceremony. She holds his hand the entire time despite hinting that Alma wouldn't be happy about it and despite she herself having terrible flashbacks of her own gift ceremony.
  • Inverted with Luisa and Isabela. Although the two are both older and noticeably taller than Mirabel, when they are cowed by Alma into submitting to her structure, it motivates Mirabel to confront Alma about the high expectations she has of them that they'll never be able to reach. In a deleted scene, Mirabel immediately tries to protect Isabela when she thinks her sister was in danger, despite their initial rivalry.
• Blue Is Heroic: Her skirt is made of various shades of blue and she is the hero of the story.
• Born Unlucky: It is often said that Mirabel is this, mainly because she’s the only member of her family not to have a gift. It also has something to do with her clumsy nature.
• Brainy Brunette: She has short dark curly hair and has to use her wits, thoughts and intelligence to make up for her lack of a gift.
• Butt-Monkey: This is especially evident during the musical numbers, especially Camilo's sequence in "We Don't Talk About Bruno" where she is terrorized by a bogeyman version of Bruno, and Isabela's song where she takes slapstick from the blossoming flora. Outside of song sequences, she faces numerous amusing injuries and insensitive comments. She takes it all in stride.
• Calling the Old Woman Out: After being pushed too far by Alma's treatment, Mirabel calls her out for always seeing her as a disappointment and deep down, she deemed no one (even with their gifts) good enough for her, despite the hard work they put in.
• The Call Put Me on Hold: It's expected for every Madrigal child to be given a gift at the age of five. Except for Mirabel. Her ceremony ended with no gift, and she had to live with that little fact hanging over her for ten years. With that said, she still tries to help the community in her comparatively limited capacity. She also finds that the Gifts have "Achilles heel" problems, particularly for her sisters and her long-lost Uncle Bruno (whom we don't talk about).
• Classical Anti-Hero: Mirabel has low self-esteem because she doesn't know where she fits in her magical family due to her lack of a magical gift. Over the course of the movie, she gradually gains the confidence to know she is part of her family.
• The Confidant: Throughout the movie, Mirabel's family reveal to her their own anxieties, traumas, and fears of not meeting the expectations from others.
• Cool Big Sis: Although they are actually cousins, she fulfills this role to Antonio, being the one to comfort and support him when he is feeling anxious.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: As the Butt-Monkey, Mirabel is also prone to clumsy moments. It helps that she's an All-Loving Hero Nice Girl.
• Damsel in Distress: She plays this role in Luisa's fantasy, who defends her from monsters, perils, and natural disasters. She is also rescued at different points by Bruno and Casita.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Downplayed. Mirabel's family genuinely loves her, but she was humiliated and traumatized when her door disappeared when she was little. This moment has left her sometimes feeling unintentionally left out by her family and treated coldly by her grandmother.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Mirabel genuinely wants to be of service to her family and her community but has trouble in finding out how to be of service.
• Determinator: Once she realizes the magic is in danger, nothing will stop her from trying to find out how to fix it, neither going into forbidden rooms nor having to try and reconcile with her least favorite sibling.
• Eccentric Artist: In addition to her unique and colorful work in sewing and embroidery, her bedroom wall is full of whimsical drawings, including a winged unicorn capybara. She shares this trait with Bruno and it’s one of the reasons she refers to both as family weirdos.
• Endearingly Dorky: Mirabel is a sweet and loving person who can also be clumsy and pull off some dorky expressions.
• Everygirl: Mirabel is the only non-magical child of the Madrigal family. And she has been shown to be a down-to-earth, sensible hero.
• Extremely Protective Child: Mirabel loves her family and will do anything in her power to protect them.
• Eye Motifs: Similar to her tío Bruno. Mirabel is the only blood Madrigal to wear glasses, which symbolize her unique perspective. She's constantly having to fidget with and adjust them in order to see properly, and even Luisa does it for her during one of her fantasy rescues. They are also a distinctive shade of green which resembles the color of Bruno's visions. Additionally, Mirabel is called Mira for short. "Mira" is Spanish for "look." And, while the phrase "Open your eyes" is used throughout the movie, it's most noticeable in Mirabel's "I Want" Song, where it's repeated three times in a row. Mirabel notices the cracks by sight and in Bruno's secret room her eyes peek through the Family tree in the dining room.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Unlike most of her family, Mirabel's outfit is heavily embellished with extra embroidery, primarily on her right side.
• Fatal Flaw: Impulsiveness/Trying Too Hard. There is no doubt that Mirabel's heart is in the right place in trying to save the miracle. However, her efforts are so rushed and impetuous that each step of her investigation ends up creating some kind of discord and confusion in the family that builds until Alma reaches her breaking point, leading to a highly emotional fight with Mirabel that causes the miracle to fail.
• Friend to All Children: The village children all flock to Mirabel, and she is very close to her kid cousin Antonio. When Mirabel runs away out of shame for seemingly causing Casita to break down completely, the village kids are audibly worried about her whereabouts, and they even try to help find her.
• Genki Girl: She can get pretty excited, mostly during musical numbers.
• Grew a Spine: She finally tells Alma in no uncertain terms that she's had enough of her domineering ways and the expectations she puts on the family that can never be met.
• Hairstyle Inertia: Mirabel has kept the same hairstyle from the time she was 5 years old. The only difference is that she no longer wears a pink bow in her hair.
• The Heart: Mirabel's Character Development involves her growing into this role for the family. Through the movie, she learns about her family members' hidden struggles, helps them open up about their feelings, and when confronting Alma, she not only calls her out for always seeing her as a disappointment because she wasn't given a gift, but Alma doesn't see that anyone is good enough for her or her expectations.
• The Hero: The main protagonist who sets out to save the miracle bestowed upon her family.
• Heroic BSoD: After Casita completely crumbles, Mirabel runs away to the river in shame and breaks down in sobs because she thinks that she caused the house to fracture.
• Hope Bringer: A role that Mirabel desperately tries to play for most of the plot both to atone for her lack of gift and to prevent the bad ending of Bruno's last vision. The primary conflict in the film arises from Alma's refusal to see Mirabel as this. She plays this role straight in "All of You" when she inspires her family and the townsfolk to rebuild the house.
  Alma: I asked my Pedro for help. Mirabel, he sent me you.
• I Just Want to Be Special: "Waiting on a Miracle" is Mirabel's "I Want" Song to find her magical place within the family. When the family magical candle is waning and the Casita's foundation crumbling, Mirabel decides that solving why their magic is failing will finally make her special. By the end of the film, Mirabel has finally come to terms with the fact that neither she nor anyone else in the family needs a "gift" to be special, and that they all have a place in their family just by virtue of being themselves.
• Iconic Outfit: Her green circular glasses and floral-embroidered dress.
• Ironic Name: "Mirabel" is only one letter off from "miracle," and yet she's a Muggle Born of Mages and is treated thusly by much of her family.
• Irony: Mirabel is the first Madrigal child to not get a gift. She was ultimately the one to restore the magic in both Casita and in her family.
• Kid Hero: At 15, she is the second youngest member of the family, but takes it upon herself to solve the mystery of why the magic is fading.
• The Klutz: Clumsy is a pretty good way to describe Mirabel. Part of why her family doesn’t want her to get involved in any of the help around the village is because they’re worried that her clumsiness will ruin things like it has many times in the past.
• Like Parent, Like Child:
  • Like her mother, Julieta, Mirabel acts as an emotional center to the family and has a skill in something traditionally feminine (cooking for Julieta, sewing/embroidery for Mirabel). Agustín even notes that Mirabel takes the most after her mother.
  • Like her father, Agustín, Mirabel has uncertainty of her place in a magical family, and both are prone to Amusing Injuries.
• Meaningful Name:
  • "Mirabel" means "wondrous"; she winds up being just what her family needs, showing her lack of powers doesn't make her any less amazing.
    • Her nickname "Mira" is Spanish for "look/see." This fits with the eye motif of the film.
  • "Mirabel" also means “miraculous,” and along with the names "Alma," "Félix," and "Camilo," plays into the religious theme naming of the family.
  • Her middle name, "Valentina", means "courageous". Perfectly fits for a Plucky Girl who became brave enough to openly reprimand Alma.
• Middle Child Syndrome: Even though she's the youngest of Julieta's kids, Mirabel gets hit with the downsides of this trope, especially since her extended family includes a younger child who gets more attention than her. In fact, it's Mirabel's main internal conflict. She feels like she's pushed aside and overlooked by the rest of her magical family due to her lack of a gift and is trying to figure out what her place in her family even is.
• The Millstone: Deconstructed. In general, this is how the Madrigal family views Mirabel. She doesn’t have a gift like everyone else, which is why Mirabel tries to prove that she’s just as useful and important as everyone else in her family. Instead, more often than not, she accidentally creates more problems than there were to begin with, and over the years, it has made her an outcast amongst her family. The main conflict of the movie starts when Mirabel senses something wrong with the Casita. Due to her tendency to screw things up, her family doesn’t listen to her. This ends backfiring, big time.
• Modesty Shorts: Mirabel wears a pair of short bloomers under her dress, as seen in the opening sequence, "The Family Madrigal".
• Momma's Boy: Gender-inverted. While Mirabel is close with both of her parents, she seems to have a closer bond with her mother. During "Family Madrigal", she happily talks about how impressed she is with Julieta's powers. She also goes to her in moments of distress. Julieta in turn absolutely dotes on her.
• Muggle Born of Mages: Unlike the rest of Abuela's descendants, she has no magical gift, which greatly bothers her. People who married into the family (Agustín, Félix) have no magic either, but are okay with it. They consider themselves to have steadying, supportive roles.
• My Greatest Failure: No one knows why Mirabel did not receive a gift, and certainly no one blames her for it, but the bottom line is that for every ceremony Alma assures the children that through their gift they will make their family proud, and Mirabel struggles daily with her perceived inability to make her family proud, which all traces back to her failed gift ceremony.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Although she has Casita's and her family's best interests at heart, Mirabel is fully aware that by saving the miracle she can finally do something that will make her family proud. When she eavesdrops on Alma, the single person whose approval she most values, tearfully asking her late husband for help, it only steels her resolve to save the miracle.
• Nervous Tics: Mirabel's palms sweat when she's nervous.
• Nice Girl: Mirabel is a kind, deeply empathetic young girl with a deep love for her family.
• "Not So Different" Remark: When Bruno fears that proceeding with the vision will cause Mirabel to resent him, she assures him that they are both family weirdos with an undeserved bad rap.
• "Oh, Crap!" Smile: Mirabel has this expression so often it's one of her trademarks, especially in promotional material. She pulls a memorable one when her father catches her with Bruno’s last vision.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: She feels this way about the rest of her superpowered family. She tries to feel okay with her lack of powers, but she feels like she is not able to contribute much to the family or to the town because of her lack of them.
• Pimped-Out Dress: It's more adorable than gorgeous, but her dress is technical wonder to behold, since all the embroidering and frills are handmade and boast a rainbow of colors. Played for Drama since her dress and textile skill in general are ways for Mirabel to assert her exceptionality when she fears herself to be the opposite.
• Pink Means Feminine: Her dress incorporates a variety of colors, but the frilliest accents are pink as are her shoes. As a child she wears a pink bow for her Gift ceremony.
• Plucky Girl: Mirabel's greatest strengths are her indomitable spirit, unfailing compassion, and willingness to adventure, trademark attributes of this archetype.
• The Pollyanna: Subverted. She tries to be optimistic at first, but after her youngest cousin gets a magic gift, making her the only Madrigal of her generation to not get one, she admits she's not happy.
• Promotion to Parent: Downplayed. Mirabel lives in the same room as Antonio and is shown as the one to care for him and know his needs over his own mother Pepa.
• Quirky Curls: She has chin-length curly hair, which is a different texture than the coiled curls of Félix and his children. She's also optimistic and spunky.
• Riddle for the Ages: Her not getting a gift is never explained why. On the other hand, it's the lack of a gift that pushes her to become the Hope Bringer of the family.
• Sad Clown: Mirabel cracks a lot of jokes and is very goofy, but this is to hide her unease with being The Team Normal and feeling like a misfit in her family.
• The Scapegoat:
  • Mirabel's warning about the cracks is written off as trying to ruin Antonio's birthday celebration or lashing out because she couldn't emotionally handle the day. Initially this seems to be a case of Cassandra Truth— then we find out as Abuela Alma prays to her deceased husband that Alma believed Mirabel was telling the truth the whole time about the cracks but cast Mirabel as making up stories to avoid admitting it to anyone else.
  • A significant portion of the family blames Mirabel for ruining Isabela's proposal dinner, despite the scene being caused by Dolores spilling secrets at the dinner table that she knew would cause chaos and upset and it's that very upset that causes the family's powers to go out of control and the house to start breaking again.
  • Alma ends up unfairly blaming Mirabel for the house falling apart, her sisters' problems, and for Bruno leaving them That became the last straw for Mirabel.
  • It's strongly implied that the reason behind Isabela's treatment of Mirabel is because she blames her younger sister for being the indirect cause of Alma putting further pressure on her to be perfect after said sister's failed gift ceremony.
• Sensitive Artist: Mirabel is talented in her embroidery hobby. She is also an emotionally mature and thoughtful individual, spending most of the movie providing comfort to her family members.
• Shipper on Deck: She is giddy (along with Isabela) when Dolores and Mariano become an Official Couple.
• The Short Guy with Glasses: Mirabel checks all the boxes, she’s the only child to wear glasses, is shorter than everyone other than five-year-old Antonio, and her glasses are even the requisite green. More importantly, she can adapt to anything, and excels at emotional intelligence, being able to persuade others to open up to her and give her the information she needs to solve the mystery of the vanishing magic.
• Shorter Means Smarter: Downplayed. Mirabel's official height is 5'2" and she's the second shortest of her family (after Antonio), and her family aren't dumb, but Mirabel has been described as smart by her mother and it is her emotional intelligence that ultimately saves her family and the miracle.
• Short Teens, Tall Adults: Her official height is 5'2", and she's the shortest in her family aside from the five-year-old Antonio.
• Significant Birth Date: According to Word Of God, Mirabel's birthday is March 6th, the same as Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, one of the central sources of inspiration for the film.
• Slapstick: Particularly in the musical fantasy sequence, Mirabel takes plenty of abuse played for laughs.
• Smart People Wear Glasses: She wears large round spectacles and is smart according to Julieta.
• Specs of Awesome: Mirabel wears her glasses throughout all her trials, but this is most evident during the climactic race for the dying candle and her glasses remain put even as the house crumbles around her.
• Successful Sibling Syndrome: Downplayed. While Mirabel shows shades of this with her sisters, Isabela and Luisa, the issue goes deeper since she feels overshadowed by all the members of her family who have magical gifts while she doesn't. She eventually grows out of this trope as she learns that bringing the family closer together and seeing each family member as more than just their gift is what's necessary to save the miracle.
• Textile Work Is Feminine: Mirabel sews regularly as a hobby. She's done her own personalized embroidery on her skirt, incorporating symbols to represent everyone in her family, and there's similar embroidery on her satchel. She also crochets a toy jaguar as a present for Antonio for his fifth birthday.
• True Blue Femininity: Downplayed. Mirabel is not as feminine as Isabela, Dolores, or her own mother. But as Agustín notes, she very much takes after Julieta and wears the shade of blue closest to her. Mirabel has maternal instincts towards her little cousin Antonio, to whom she gives comfort and cuddles. She's also accomplished in textile work and is capable of finely detailed embroidering. Her dress is colorfully decorated with enough rainbows and butterflies to make Lisa Frank proud. She's also well versed in a feminine style of dancing and plays a classic damsel in distress in Luisa's fantasy.
• Turn the Other Cheek: Downplayed. Mirabel is sometimes not respected by her family or the villagers, which include how alomst all of them thought she was making up the cracks in Casita to get attention. She's also unfairly scapegoated in other situations by most of her family, especially Alma and Isabela, even though she didn't do anything. Mirabel is understanably exasperated and, at some points, hurt by these moments and expresses these feelings. Nonetheless, she moves past these moments to focus on saving the family and later forgives each transgression.
• "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Granddaughter, that is. Deep down, Mirabel doesn't really want a gift but rather wants her Abuela to see her worth.
  Mirabel: [to Alma] I will never...be good enough for you, will I?
• Younger Than They Look: According to the director's words, Mirabel is only fifteen years old during the events of the film, but she could easily pass for a twenty something. Perhaps except for her height, at first glance she does not appear to be one of the youngest daughters in her family.
• Youthful Freckles: Is one of the youngest members of the family and her nose and cheeks are dotted with light freckles. They can be hard to see, but they're there. She shares this trait with Camilo.

Pepa and Félix Madrigal

Mirabel's respective maternal aunt and uncle by marriage. Pepa's gift lets her control the weather depending on her mood.

Tropes that apply to both:

• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Gender-Inverted. Félix is pleasant and jovial, Pepa is an erratic mood swinger.
• Chubby Mama, Skinny Papa: Inverted. Félix is heavyset compared to his thinner wife Pepa, which serves to highlight how their personalities also contrast.
• Fat and Skinny: As mentioned above, Félix is stocky and Pepa is slender. True to the trope, Félix is more down-to-earth and mellow, while Pepa is more dramatic.
• Good Parents: Both of them are shown to be loving, attentive parents to their children. They are supportive of Antonio during his gift ceremony, and Félix rushes to rescue him when Casita crumbles.
• Happily Married: Despite marrying Pepa in a hurricane, Félix was still happy and still called their wedding a "joyous day". Later when Pepa unintentionally creates a snowstorm, Félix is quick to side with his wife when Alma tells Pepa to calm down.
• One Head Taller: Pepa is noticeably taller than Félix. This is made more noticeable because she is thin and he has very broad shoulders, and he often holds an umbrella above her head.
• Opposites Attract: They couldn't be more different, but they also couldn't be more in love. She is a tall, fair skinned woman, he is a stocky dark-skinned man; she is a Mood-Swinger and he is pleasant and jovial. It's implied they get along so well because Félix knows how to calm her down (and enjoys being able to).
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: Implied in "We Don't Talk about Bruno", as the two are very affectionate and touchy during their dance at points. As well as the way Pepa seems to light up in happiness when her husband calls her "mi vida". She seems the happiest around him, and he is clearly loving being around her no matter what, even if it meant being married in a literal hurricane.
• Snow Means Love: Pepa and Félix celebrate the restoration of the magic with a dance under soft hail. It's a lovely resolution to their wedding in hurricane.
• Umbrella of Togetherness: Félix often holds an umbrella above her head, and apparently, they shared one on their own wedding day. It symbolizes how close they are and how much Félix supports her.
• Unreliable Expositor: When they describe Pepa's wedding, they make Bruno out to be a lot more sinister than he really is.

Tropes that apply to Pepa:

• Absurdly Elderly Mother: Downplayed. She's 50 years old, as the Encanto has existed since she's a baby and Alma mentions that it happened 50 years ago, and she has a 5 years old son, meaning she had Antonio when she was already around 45. Not impossible, but reaching the end of the time frame when women can realistically become mothers.
• Anger Born of Worry: Ultimately the core of her feelings toward Bruno. She's been deeply hurt and furious with Bruno for ten years. But not for ruining her wedding day, but for disappearing from their lives without so much as a word.
• Affectionate Nickname: Félix calls his wife Pepi and Pepita.
• Big Little Sister: Pepa is slightly younger than Julieta but noticeably taller which corresponds to her more assertive and boisterous personality.
• Big Sister Instinct: Despite nursing a grudge for two decades, the moment Pepa sees Bruno return to the family, she rushes to embrace him.
• Blessed with Suck: Pepa seems to be quite temperamental and her negative moods trigger bad weather. Throughout the movie we see her struggling to keep her storm clouds at bay. We also see that Pepa receives persistent chiding from Alma anytime she starts forming bad weather.
• Comically Cross-Eyed: As her character image shows, she can cross into this territory, especially when she is about to lose her temper.
• Death Glare: She can give some particularly terrifying ones, especially when someone insists on talking about Bruno. Not even her beloved husband is immune.
• Drama Queen: Pepa reacts to even the possibility of something bad happening like it's the end of the world, which isn't helped by the fact her stress manifests as storms.
• Elemental Motifs: Wind/lightning. Pepa's powers give her access to all types of weather and her design is based on the sun, however, the plot occurs over a very stressful few days, so that Pepa is most often associated with dramatic wind and storms. Her first lines have her summon a twister that threatens to ruin the floral arrangements for Antonio’s ceremony. Her room as well as the ceiling above it have weathervanes constantly in motion. She also thunders when she is upset.
• Emotional Powers: Pepa's powers are tied to her emotions, so if she ever gets stressed or scared, the weather reflects that. Unfortunately, this happens a lot, given how nervous Pepa is on a regular day.
• Establishing Character Moment: Mirabel introduces Pepa dancing happily under sunshine until she suffers an embarrassing pratfall which sours her mood and summons a rainstorm. Pepa is an energetic and lively woman but also a drama queen who can blow things out of proportion.
• Exhausted Eye Bags: Pepa has dark rings around her eyes and seems to be in a near constant state of stress. Considering that her gift involves her emotions affecting the weather, this is likely the result of a lifetime of forcing herself to remain cheerful.
• Fiery Redhead: Pepa is the only Madrigal with auburn hair, and she's the most temperamental.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Pepa is not a patient woman. She starts thundering just because Mirabel takes the seat closer to the juice glasses at the breakfast table. Fortunately, her mood swings as easily the other way. Félix in particular can soothe her temper with a word or caress.
• Hair Style Inertia: Pepa has worn a single hip length auburn braid since the age of five.
• Hollywood Genetics: While it is possible for siblings, even triplets, to have different complexions and hair colors, Pepa is a fair-skinned, green-eyed redhead in a family where is in action: both her siblings and both her parents have olive skin and dark brown hair. A case of Reality Is Unrealistic since it's common in Latino families, especially in Colombia, to have siblings with completely different skin and eye colors due to the existence of recessive traits and the historical mix of races in the country.
• It's All About Me: She's only willing to break the "Don't talk about Bruno" rule if she can tell the tragic tale of how he ruined her wedding. She also becomes visibly annoyed when Félix interjects that it was their wedding day.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed. Pepa has a capricious temper and a need for perfection and control like Alma. However, despite the similarity, Pepa doesn't have the exact high standards as her mother and has shown to be a loving, protective woman to her family.
• Like Mother, Like Daughter: Although Julieta most resembles her mother physically, out of triplets it's Pepa who most takes after her mother in character. Like Alma, Pepa is strong-willed and assertive, but this can present a problem when her stubbornness stops her from listening. Like Alma, Pepa has a fixation on perfectionism, her anxiety that Antonio's gift ceremony had to be perfect causing her to accidentally destroy the floral arrangements with a twister. Like Alma, she is so focused on Isabela's upcoming proposal that she refuses to hear Mirabel's concerns about Bruno's vision.
• Mama Bear: She is very protective of her children, as she was very nervous about Antonio's party being perfect and became upset when she couldn't find him. This also extends to her nieces, since Pepa is very upset about Isabela’s proposal going down the drain and despite the friction the two have during the film, Pepa also tries to run into the crumbling house towards Mirabel alongside Julieta and Agustín.
• Meaningful Name:
  • A pepa can refer to a sunflower seed or a nugget of gold. Pepa is associated with sunlight, the neckline of her dress is shaped like a sunflower, and she wears golden earrings in the shape of the sun. Not least of all, she is the light of her husband's eye.
  • "Pepa" also sounds like "pepper," and she's pretty hot-tempered.
• Mood-Swinger: Pepa is remarkably capricious. Her changes in mood tend to be sudden and dramatic, often switching quickly between extremes, and it unfortunately shows in the weather. Of course, this makes sense for someone who has Weather Manipulation powers, given that the weather has a tendency to change minute to minute.
  Alma: Pepa, you have a cloud!
  Pepa: I know, Mama! But now I can't find Antonio! What do you want from me?! [storms off]
• Must Have Caffeine: The morning after Antonio's successful gift ceremony, there's a scene where Agustín has his pocket watch stolen by the coatimundi. In a "blink-and-miss-it" moment that doubles as a Funny Background Event, Pepa also makes her way to the breakfast table with scowl on her face and a thundercloud above her head. The instant she takes a sip of her coffee, her face softens and the cloud immediately dissipates.
• Nervous Tics: When she gets extremely nervous, like during Mariano and Isabela's proposal dinner, she rapidly strokes her braid as she repeatedly mutters "clear skies".
• Nervous Wreck: One of Pepa's scenes shows her walking up a storm as she nervously paces in circles, worrying that her son's party is not perfect and about how many people will be coming to see him get his gift. Also, once she gets anxious about something, she has to repeatedly tell herself "clear skies" to calm herself down.
• Older Than They Look: Although the same age as Julieta and Bruno, Pepa has the most youthful appearance due to her fair skin and her grey hair not standing out in her auburn locks.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Implied, since "Pepa" is a short form for Josefina. It should be noted that her name is listed as Pepa in her door and the family tree.
• Personal Raincloud: As a side effect of her powers, Pepa gets a personal storm-cloud that produces rain and wind when she's nervous or upset. When she gets really upset, it produces hail or snow. Her mood at her worst is apparently a hurricane.
• Power Incontinence: Pepa's powers are linked to her emotions, and she has a very volatile personality accidentally causing inclement weather whenever she becomes upset. Out of all the Madrigals she is the one who seems to have the least control over her powers.
• Shock and Awe: Along with Isabela, Pepa displays one of the few instances of offensive magic in the family. When Mirabel accidentally startles her, Pepa electrocutes Camilo with a loose lightning bolt.
• Significant Birth Date: According to Word of God the triplets were born on October 17th, the first day of the 1000 days war.
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Pepa has the lightest coloring of anyone in her family, as well as one of the more fearsome powers. So naturally, she has auburn hair and bright green eyes.
• Survival Mantra: Pepa chants "clear skies, clear skies," when she's trying to get rid of her stress storm clouds.
• Tsundere: She is the dere type towards Félix, especially during their tango in "We Don't Talk About Bruno", where she alternates between giving him annoyed looks and threatening to storm off because he won't let her tell the story to melting in his arms.
• Tsurime Eyes: In contrast to her more serene sister, Pepa's eyes angle upwards, befitting her feisty and strong-willed personality. She gets this from her mother.
• Vicious Cycle: The biggest downside of Pepa's power is that when she gets stressed out, her powers create bad weather, which makes her more stressed out, which makes the bad weather more intense.
  Pepa: Great. Now I'm thundering, and that thunder will lead to a drizzle and a drizzle will lead to a sprinkle...
• Weather Manipulation: Pepa's emotions can control the weather. One scene shows her creating a miniature twister when she's stressing out over Antonio's ceremony.

Tropes that apply to Félix:

• Acrofatic: He's broad and heavyset, but also a very graceful dancer. During the climax of the film, he snatches Antonio out of harm's way from falling debris and runs with him out of the crumbling house.
• Big Beautiful Man: Félix is a Rubenesque man with broad shoulders, a chiseled jawline, and 1000-watt smile. It's no wonder Pepa fell as hard for him as she did.
• Big Fun: Félix is heavyset, jovial, and bombastic, and even takes Alma dancing during Antonio's party. Most importantly, his role in the family is to soothe Pepa's erratic moods, a role which by all accounts he enjoys fulfilling.
• Born Lucky: And his name indeed does mean lucky! This is apparent in comparison to the other members of the family, particularly the men. Pedro is murdered in his youth, Bruno is exiled, Agustín often injures himself and must deal with Luisa losing her strength, Isabela's proposal sinking, and Mirabel being blamed for it, and even Camilo gets smacked around by the house and electrocuted by his mother. The worst that happens to Félix is his wife loses her temper with him, which doesn't last, since he more than anyone else can soothe her mood.
• Carpet of Virility: Félix has a gloriously hairy chest
• Character Tics: Félix tends to make sounds a lot when exaggerating or describing things. When Camilo makes fun of this trait, it irritates him a bit as he claims he doesn't sound like that.
  Félix: Okay, okay. Vamo, vamo, vamo.
  Camilo: Okay, okay. Vamo, vamo, vamo! [Félix grabs him] Alright, I'm done!
• The Charmer: He's happily married, and two decades later can still put the moves on his wife, making her swoon by winking or running his fingers up her arm. He also persuades the strict Alma to dance with him during Antonio's party, and even gives Mirabel an avuncular twirl during his and Pepa's tango. He also gives Antonio a thumb-up and a nodding approval when he had his animal friends keep Alma's seat warm.
• Cool Uncle: He's a friendly and funny guy who gets along great with his nieces. He calls Isabela "our angel," and he insists on telling Mirabel about Bruno when she is concerned about being in one of his visions, in spite of Pepa's protests.
• Establishing Character Moment: During the introductory song we see Pepa lifting Félix off the ground by the lapels to kiss and he responds by snapping his fingers at her which makes her swoon. Pepa is the more dominant half of their marriage, but Félix doesn’t really mind since he knows how to make his wife melt for him.
• Henpecked Husband: Downplayed. Félix and Pepa have a loving and stable marriage, but he still has moments of this, especially during their tango in "We Don't Talk About Bruno", where he struggles to get a word in while Pepa tells the story of their wedding. Notably, when Félix insists on talking to Mirabel about Bruno, Pepa separates them by placing one hand on Mirabel's shoulder and the other directly on Félix's mouth.
• Hunk: Félix has a chiseled jaw, hairy chest, and a muscular heavyset body.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: He is a genial, patient, loving man who fulfills the role of Team Dad when needed and he has huge jawline to match.
• Meaningful Name:
  • "Félix" means "happy" and "lucky," and he indeed is a happy-go-lucky guy, who always knows how to put a smile on the temperamental Pepa's face. It also pairs well with both his brother-in-law's name, since Agustín sounds like "angustias" (anguish), and his daughter Dolores, whose name means sorrow.
  • "Félix" can also mean "blessed" in the Christian sense, and along with Alma, Mirabel, and Camilo, fits the religious theme naming of the family.
• Mellow Fellow: Félix is a laid-back, relaxed person.
• Nice Guy: Is clearly one of the nicest of the Madrigal family. He's openly affectionate to his wife, loves his kids, is kind to Mirabel, and quickly accepted Bruno back into the family, even calling him "bro."
• Papa Wolf: Félix can become protective of the younger members of the family, such as when he saves Antonio from the falling debris of the house and carries him in his arms even after leaving the house. After the fall of the house, he also carefully checks Camilo due to him having previously entered the ruined house and later looks for Mirabel after the latter goes missing. In a deleted scene he's seen trying to cheer her up with Agustín when she's feeling insecure about her lack of gift.
• Significant Birth Date: According to Word of God it is November 11th, Independence Day for Cartagena, a city with a substantial Afro-Colombian population.
• Team Dad: Subtly and discreetly so, but he plays this role. He is the oldest adult after Alma and exerts a masculine presence in the household. He pacifies Pepa's moods and reins in Camilo's mischief without losing his temper. He also insists that Mirabel deserves to know about Bruno when she is concerned about appearing in his vision. When the house collapses, he checks that everyone is okay and is visibly scared for his youngest niece.

Dolores Madrigal

Pepa and Félix's eldest child and only daughter. Dolores' gift is an enhanced sense of hearing.

• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Her relationship with her tio Bruno in the The Deluxe Junior Novelization is far less positive than in the movie. Due to the change in media, she approaches Mirabel to talk to her about him while her parents are ranting about their wedding day in the nursery. Due to this, she is no longer helping Bruno by preventing Mirabel from noticing him as he walks through the courtyard. Meanwhile, her more sympathetic lines towards him from the song We Don't Talk About Bruno aren't adapted, but her woes over his prediction regarding her love life and her statement that she "grew to live in fear" of him remain. It's also much less clear if she remains his Secret Secret-Keeper in this continuity, as her line confirming she knew he was around the whole time is absent, but she still tells Mirabel that the "rats in the walls" are worried.
• All Love Is Unrequited: Bruno apparently told her that the man of her dreams will be betrothed to another. This man turns out to be Mariano, who is in love with Isabela, who later admits that she never really loved Mariano and was only marrying him because it seemed to be what was best for the family. Subverted when Dolores and Mariano actually do get together at the end after Isabela makes her confession. After all, the prophecy never said that the man of her dreams would ''marry'' another!
• Beehive Hairdo: Her thick curly hair is kept back in a huge bun that evokes this appearance.
• Big Sister Instinct: It's a blink and you'll miss it moment, but when the house begins to crumble Dolores instinctively puts her arm around Camilo. Her instinct proves right since Camilo rushes towards the candle and nearly suffers a lethal fall. She also later searches for Mirabel with Félix and is visibly saddened she can't use her super hearing to find her.
• Body Motifs: Ears. Her gift is super hearing. She wears her curls up to leave her ears, which noticeably stick out, completely uncovered. Her signature pose is to hold her ear out, and she wears heart-shaped earrings to symbolize her secret love.
• Born Unlucky: Played With. Dolores has a number of telltale signs of this trope. Her name means sorrows, her gift is a potential liability that gives her the reputation of being a busybody and causes her discomfort since she has to cover her ears when fireworks blast, and most notably, before the age of eleven, Bruno prophesized that the man of her dreams would be betrothed to another. It gets even worse when the other turns out to be her own cousin, and the man of her dreams was to become her cousin-in-law. Subverted since in the end, Isabela conspires with Mirabel to get Dolores and Mariano together, and with her gift she showed Mariano she was the right match for him.
• Cannot Keep a Secret: Downplayed. Dolores can be discreet with information she hears. She never revealed Mariano's insecurities. It's implied that she can hear Bruno since she hears the rats in the walls and his room is on the other side of the dining room, but she never revealed any info about it to the family. Although she blabs Mirabel's secret, she does so out of a legitimate concern for the safety of the house.
• Cassandra Truth: Played With, while she never outright says something like "Bruno is living in the walls" she does allude to it a lot up to outright saying she can hear Bruno, but no one, including Mirabel, seems to understand or think to ask any follow-up questions.
• Character Tics: As she listens in on something, she tends to cup her ears with her hand.
• Heart Symbol: Her earrings are in the shape of hearts. It's a clue that she is in love with hopeless romantic Mariano and is the right match for him.
• Innocently Insensitive: Her telling the kids harassing Mirabel that she doesn't have any powers is framed like this in the The Deluxe Junior Novelization, where it's explicitly stated that she thought she was being helpful and remains oblivious to Mirabel's displeasure over the moment.
• Irony: She's The Quiet One, who can be a Motor Mouth when singing.
• Like Mother, Unlike Daughter: Unlike her mother Pepa, Dolores is rather quiet and generally calm.
• Loose Lips: Downplayed Trope. She has a hard time keeping secrets, with all the juicy information she hears, but she does keep her awareness that Bruno was still inside the house, and she doesn’t reveal Mariano’s insecurities.
• Love Confession: With a little help from Mirabel, she confesses not just her love to Mariano but the reason why she loves him.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Dolores is Spanish for "sorrows", and she has been prophesized to have an unrequited love. It also pairs well with both her father, whose name means lucky, and her uncle Agustín, whose name sounds like “angustias” (anguish). Dolores is tellingly the only member of the family who seems to understand Bruno's own sorrows, which led to his self-imposed exile.
  • Dolores shares a Marian theme with Isabela and Mariano. Mariano is a masculine derivative of Mary. Her name derives from Maria Dolores, aka Our Lady of Sorrows. It's a clue that Dolores and Mariano are meant to be together. Like sorrows are supposed to be, they understand each other. He sees her and she hears him.
• Motor Mouth: Her parts in the movie's songs tend to be soft but fast-paced, especially her verse in "We Don't Talk About Bruno." She speaks even faster during her Love Confession to Mariano, to the point viewers might have to rely on subtitles to understand what she is saying. She even talks fast when she spills the beans on what Bruno's vision of Mirabel was during the engagement dinner.
• Nice Girl: In "We Don't Talk About Bruno", she does seem genuinely sympathetic towards Bruno's powers and the negative image it gave him, even telling Mirabel it was a "heavy lift" with such a "humbling" power. Whatever the extent of her awareness of Bruno's presence on the household, never betrayed his secret and only gave Mirabel cryptic clues about hearing the rats talk in the walls. Even during the song, her movements pull Mirabel away from noticing a shadowy figure of Bruno, allowing him to move from the first floor to the second unnoticed by Mirabel. Dolores wants Mirabel to find Bruno and save the miracle, but she also doesn't want the entire family to find Bruno against his wishes.
• Older Than They Look: She doesn't look much older than her cousin Mirabel and younger brother Camilo, but she's actually the same age as Isabela (twenty-one) and is six years older than both Mirabel and Camilo (both being fifteen years old).
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The usually quiet and stoic Dolores is genuinely distressed when she shouts to Alma about Mirabel in Bruno's vision.
• The Quiet One: Is described as "a little bit quiet". Even when she talks or sings, it almost sounds like a whisper.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: With the reveal that the rats she could hear talking in the walls live with Bruno, the secret entrance of his passage being next to her room, and his secret room being on the other side of the dining room, Dolores kept all awareness of this secret and only gave Mirabel cryptic clues about it for her to figure out on her own.
• Significant Birth Date: August 31st, which celebrates Colombians of African descent.
• Single Girl Seeks Most Popular Guy: She's in love with the village's favorite son, Mariano. Subverted because at the end of the film, she clarifies the real reason she likes him is because her eavesdropping revealed he's a thoughtful, kind man.
• The Stoic: Downplayed. Dolores isn't completely emotionless, but she emotes the least of her family.
• Suddenly Shouting: She's normally very soft-spoken and quiet, but during the proposal dinner she quickly goes from whispering Mirabel's secret to Camilo to shouting at the top of her lungs how the family is DOOMED!
• Super-Hearing: She has this for her magical gift, which makes it hard to keep secrets around her like the family's magical powers waning.
• Survival Mantra: Dolores has to constantly say to herself that she's fine with Isabela and Mariano's engagement.
• Successful Sibling Syndrome: Implied having this with her cousin Isabela. The director describes Dolores as "Isa's shadow", and an indication of this is given in the film as Isabela is engaged to Mariano, the man Dolores loves.
• Troll: Not to the same extent as her brother but the family resemblance is clear. Alma asks Dolores whether Mariano has a date for the proposal but the comment about wanting 5 children is a spontaneous contribution of Dolores. Jared Bush has implied that Mariano may not have said that at all, and that Dolores made it up to mess with Isabela. In a twist of the trope, Dolores' dejected face and later revelation suggest the prank arises from a place of pain.
• Verbal Tic: She has a habit of making a tiny squeak to indicate that she's heard something.
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: In comparison to some of the other family's gifts (shapeshifting, animal communion, super strength, weather manipulation) it seems like Delores got shafted even more so than Mirabel (though maybe not as much as Bruno, given that the tendency to blame him for misfortune that he foresaw led to his self-imposed exile.)

Camilo Madrigal

Pepa's and Félix's middle child and older son (who is a few months older than Mirabel). His gift lets him shapeshift into whoever he wants.

• Advertised Extra: Camilo received great publicity in the trailers of the film before it was released as well as his older cousins and his younger brother, who are important at some point in the story. However, in reality he only appears on the screen for five minutes and he's the Madrigal that contributes the least to the plot.
• Adaptational Jerkass: After the failed proposal dinner in The Deluxe Junior Novelization, Mirabel hears him wondering if she's going to make him lose his magic, whereas movie Camilo never expresses such an opinion towards his prima. There's also a rather unflattering walla comment about Mirabel after Casita collapses that's strongly implied to be from him in the same novel, whereas in the movie he was busy worrying about Antonio.
  Walla (implied to be Camilo): No wonder she didn't get a gift.
  Walla (unknown source): Don't talk about Mirabel like that.
  Walla (likely Pepa or Felix): Don't talk to my son like that.
• Animal Motifs: Chameleons, as they are on his ruana and door, Mirabel also has one embroidered in her dress to represent him. Like chameleons, he can change his appearance, but has a hidden shy and insecure side.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: To his older cousin, Isabela. He tends to annoy her by shapeshifting into her prospective husband, Mariano.
  Camilo: Isabela, your boyfriend's here~!
• Attention Whore: He has a natural love for the spotlight and often billows his ruana like an actor's cape. The lower border of his door is lined with theater seats. His pranks often involve exaggerating the quirks of those he impersonates, like his father and Mariano. While he often uses the spotlight to make people smile, he's not above striking a dramatic, but unfairly menacing portrayal of Bruno to command the spotlight either.
• Big Brother Instinct: Before Antonio's ceremony, he shapeshifts into their father to lighten the mood and help cheer him up. During a family photo, he has his arm lovingly around him. When the family loses their powers near the end, Camilo is shaken, but he immediately turns his attention to Antonio and worries how his baby brother would be affected.
• Big Eater: He is shown impersonating Dolores so he can get seconds at breakfast. If his plate is any indication, he can’t get enough of Julieta's arepas con queso, which form a pile almost as high as his head which is his second helping.
• Body Motifs: The mouth. Along with main character Mirabel, Camilo has the most expressive mouth in the family. His door has an impressive Cheshire Cat Grin which stands out against the serene smiles of the rest of his family (even in the restored Casita door!). Camilo is both a mouthy kid and a big eater. His impersonations often focalize the lips such as the kissy faces and broad laugh he makes as Mariano, while the real Mariano is rather shy and soft-spoken.
• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': His pranks tend to be called out right away. While trying to sneak seconds in Dolores' form, Mirabel interrupts him; when he shapeshifts into a miniature version of his father to cheer up Antonio, Félix picks him up and carries him out of the room; when he teases Isabela by making kissy faces in the shape of Mariano, she takes the opportunity to flick blossoms into his open mouth, so he has to spit them out. Even when he is acting kindly and tries to calm his mother with tea, she accidentally lets loose a lightning bolt that shocks him.
• Cape Swish: It's a ruana, but it has the same effect. Camilo often swishes his "cape" when he shapeshifts for dramatic effect.
• Character Tics: He makes a dramatic sweeping gesture with his arms when showcasing his gift.
• The Charmer: One in training. He's a saucy kid with a smart mouth who uses his gift to sneak extra food. He can also make babies stop crying with his cooing and people laugh with his impersonations. His job for Antonio's gift ceremony is to welcome guests into the house, kissing ladies on the cheek and high-fiving little girls. He gets this from his father.
• Cheshire Cat Grin: Often sports this mischievous smile right before or while using his gift. His door displays a particularly impressive one, made even more impressive by the fact it conveys all the mischief WITHOUT flashing any teeth. It also contrasts with the serene smiles found in most other doors.
• Cool Big Bro: Antonio's admiration for his brother manifests when the latter cheers him up by impersonating their father. The boy is visibly nervous, but his face breaks into a wide smile at Camilo's antics.
• Deadpan Snarker: He is high on the snarker. The deadpan is low when shapeshifting someone else, but as himself he can be very deadpan.
  Agustín: I'll be okay.
  Camilo: Uh, not if we don't have a house. [Félix elbows him] What? We don't have a house. I can't say we don't have a house? What is that? Not a house.
• Dreary Half-Lidded Eyes: His eyes are often half closed. In combination with a cocky grin, it denotes his mischievous nature.
• Establishing Character Moment: He offers a young mother a pillow so she can catch some sleep while he cares for her infant child. The mother trusts him with the baby, and the baby stops crying as soon as Camilo takes it in his arms. He might be a saucy prankster with a smart mouth, but Camilo seems to enjoy his role as the town baby-sitter.
• Evil Laugh: In the Japanese version of "We Don't Talk About Bruno", he does one after saying, "Isabera, kareshi da yo!" ("Isabela, your boyfriend's here!")
• Fish Eyes: Apparently, this can happen if he gets stuck shapeshifting between people from shock. When Dolores whispers Mirabel's secret to him during the proposal dinner, he transforms quickly into Mirabel and Bruno, and his eyes end up bulging and looking away from each other. The effect is quite unnerving in-universe too, since Félix admonishes him to fix his face.
• Flourish Cape in Front of Face: It's a poncho, but Camilo uses it to the same effect. Notably he is depicted in this pose in the family tree, as befits his dramatic and mischievous personality.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: When compared to his two siblings (and also his cousins), he's the Foolish. During the opening number, Camilo is shown to have the responsible chore of baby-sitting the town's children while shapeshifting to look like their mothers. However, throughout the rest of the movie when he's "finished his chores" he uses his power in mischievous ways like teasing Isabela about her "boyfriend" Mariano, trying to sneak seconds for breakfast, or over-playing Bruno as a 7-foot menace that feasts on your screams.
• The Gadfly:
  • He really enjoys poking fun of Isabela for her engagement to Mariano. She responds by flicking flowers in his mouth and, to his credit, he takes this in stride.
  • It's unclear whether he's being this during his verse in We Don't Talk About Bruno, or if he's just parroting and exaggerating what he's heard. After all, he too was only five when his uncle vanished.
• Hidden Depths: Although he is only seen as the prankster of the Madrigals; in some official media it is revealed that he likes sports like fútbol.
• Humanshifting: His shapeshifting ability appears to be limited to strictly people he knows.
• Innocently Insensitive: Camilo's constant pranking of Isabela by shapeshifting into Mariano and making kissy faces or flexing his biceps is not nearly as funny after finding out that his sister Dolores, who is at the table when he does this, is secretly in love with Mariano, but had resigned herself be his cousin-in-law. Also, Isabela would probably be less annoyed by it if she did actually love Mariano...
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: Highlighted by the way he uses his gift, but not limited to it. Camilo is equally comfortable assuming male and female forms, down to the gestures and mannerisms. He has a particular knack for playing mother to infant children, and in his own form, he has a penchant for twirls and flourishes. This isn't surprising, since up until Antonio was born, Camilo was the only boy in the family (not counting his dad, Félix, or his uncle-thru-marriage, Agustín) and spent his entire life mostly surrounded by women.
• Involuntary Shapeshifting: When frightened, he will spaz out between different forms.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Camilo is a prankster who trolls his family (particularly his father and Isabela), but he's shown to have a caring and thoughtful heart.
• Large Ham: When he shapeshifts into someone, he also impersonates them bombastically, exaggerating their quirks and characteristics. When he impersonates someone quiet, like Dolores, he exaggerates this to the point of becoming silent since he doesn't say a word while Mirabel is talking to him. As himself, he's more relaxed and less dramatic.
• Like Father, Like Son: Like his father, Camilo is a charming, extroverted, sociable person who is also laid-back and loves to have fun.
• Magic Pants: His clothes are able to transform with him to match whoever he had shapeshifted into.
• Mama's Boy: Implied. He loves to troll and mock his father but seems to be tender with his mother. We have a single scene where he serves her tea to help her calm down and calls her "mami" (mommy). One of the co-creators has confirmed that Camilo is a mama's boy.
• Master Actor: One in training. His gift allows him to shapeshift into anyone's physical form right down to their clothes, but it's implied this does not include mannerisms and speech (since his Bruno is entirely his creation), but he delivers a pitch-perfect mimic of his father and a Dolores good enough to fool Mirabel. One of the ways he serves the community is to impersonate a young mother with a newborn so the actual mother can get some sleep while Camilo takes care of her baby. His door is even lined with rows of theater seats.
• Meaningful Name:
  • The name Camilo means "temple servant", "freeborn", or "noble".
  • Camilo sounds like chameleon, befitting for a shapeshifter.
  • Camilo also means altar-bearer, and along with Alma, Mirabel, and Félix, fits the religious theme naming of the family.
  • His original name, Carlos, also has a theme associated with Camilo's personality. In the Latin culture, a person with the name Carlos is often considered to be very creative, sociable, and charismatic, who also makes others smile wherever he goes and has a close relationship with his family.
• Mellow Fellow: Camilo is an easygoing and chill dude. When caught shapeshifting into Dolores to get second helpings on breakfast, his response is a good-natured "worth a shot". Casita responds by whacking him with a window screen, and even this doesn't seem to bother Camilo much. When Isabela flicks flowers into his open mouth for shapeshifting into Mariano, he merely spits them out with a sheepish look on his face and no further retaliation. He gets this from his father.
• Middle Child Syndrome: Downplayed. Nevertheless, Camilo gets the least screen time of the Madrigal children, he is also the least helpful to Mirabel's quest to save the magic. During the "We Don't Talk About Bruno" number he provides Mirabel with downright misleading information as Bruno isn't seven foot tall or feast on people's screams. Of all the Madrigal children he is the most mischievous and is shown taunting his father and Isabela.
• Mouthy Kid: Downplayed only because he gets so little screen time, but the times he does open his mouth, he always has something snarky to say, like instantly proving Félix wrong about his mannerisms or reminding an overtly optimistic Agustín they are still homeless.
• Mundane Utility: He shapeshifts into Dolores so he can get seconds of his aunt Julieta's food. Sometimes he also shapeshifts into someone just because a taller person is needed, like when he's helping in the preparations for Antonio's ceremony.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Camilo has better luck as a prankster, the one time he behaves gently and tries to soothe Pepa’s anxiety by serving her tea and guiding her in breathing exercises, Mirabel accidentally causes Pepa to electrocute Camilo with a loose lightning bolt.
• Older Than They Look: Downplayed. He is the same age as Mirabel (fifteen years old) and it is obvious that he is in his teens. However, it is known that he is a few months older than Mirabel, but he appears younger because of his somewhat slim build.
• Out of Focus: Of all the Madrigals, Camilo gets the worst of this, only having around six minutes of screentime. While the rest of his family develops or are important to the plot in some way, (i.e. Antonio's gift ceremony being a focal point in the story as well as aiding Bruno and Mirabel, Dolores knowing about her blood uncle's status and hooking up with Mariano in the end, Pepa being able to finally express herself with her weather powers as well as her and Félix giving accurate information about Bruno to their niece...) Camilo is just... kind of there.
• Power Incontinence: Not to the same degree as his mother, but shock or pain can make him involuntarily shapeshift into his family members or even get stuck with Fish Eyes.
• Short Teens, Tall Adults: He's 15 and not much taller than Mirabel, who herself is only 5'2''.
• Significant Birth Date: According to Word Of God, Camilo's birthday is December 28th or Childermas, the Latin American equivalent of April Fool's Day, which is celebrated with harmless pranks (inocentadas), as befits as mischievous prankster.
• Sizeshifter: Due to his shapeshifting gift, Camilo also changes to the size of the person he's impersonating, growing or shrinking as needed.
• Slasher Smile: For his characterization of Bruno, Camilo dons a nightmarish smile that could believably feast on people’s screams.
• Troll: Camilo enjoys messing with people with his shapeshifting. The musical number "We Don't Talk About Bruno," is ostensibly about Mirabel gathering clues about Bruno from people who remember him before he disappeared, including Dolores and Isabela who were around 11 at the time. Camilo, who was only five, joins in just to terrorize Mirabel with a bogeyman version of Bruno, and is having the time of his life. He also makes sure to make fun of Isabela's engagement to Mariano for good measure.
• Tuckerization: This post states Camilo's name comes from a tour guide that helped the Encanto crew during their time in Colombia.
• Unreliable Expositor: Camilo says Bruno had a "seven-foot frame", while the real Bruno turns out to be shorter than both his sisters. To be fair, the last time he saw his uncle was when he was very young.
• Youthful Freckles: He shares this trait with Mirabel, though his are easier to see, given his lighter complexion.

Antonio Madrigal

Pepa and Félix's youngest son, who is given the gift of speaking to and understanding animals.

• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Pepa and Alma call him "Toñito". Antonios are often called "Toño" in Latin America which makes "Toñito" doubly affectionate.
  • Pepa also calls him "My baby" and "Papito."
  • Mirabel calls him "Hombrecito" (little man).
• Animal Lover: Prior to receiving his gift, Antonio was noted by Mirabel as having a liking for animals.
• Animal Motifs: He has a host of animal friends since he is an Animal Lover, but the two most associated with him are the jaguar and the toucan, especially in official artwork and on Mirabel's dress. Mirabel also gives him a stuffed jaguar toy for his birthday. Toucans are also symbolic of communication, and his gift is to speak to animals. Also, a jaguar (Parce) and toucan (Pico) are two of his most prominent companions in his animal entourage.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Aside from being Pepa and Felix's youngest child, he's also the youngest member of the family in general.
• The Beastmaster: As he is able to speak with animals, Antonio can ask them to do or not do something. For example, he reprimanded his jaguar friend against eating two of Bruno's rats, and the jaguar reluctantly complied. It's never shown if he can command an animal to act completely against its nature.
• Better with Non-Human Company: In his official description, Antonio has been described as someone who prefers the company of animals over people (excluding his family).
• Big Sister Worship: Antonio greatly looks up to Mirabel like an older sister, and they are roommates until Antonio gets a magical room of his own. When Antonio is nervous about his gift-revealing day, Mirabel is able to calm his nerves while hiding under the bed with him and accompanies him to open his door when he asks. She even gifts him a stuffed jaguar to snuggle, now that he won't be snuggling with her anymore.
• Childish Tooth Gap: He has a small gap on the left side of his mouth, which is natural since he has just turned five. It adds to his sweetness and innocence.
• Cuddle Bug: Besides Mirabel, Antonio is frequently seen cuddling up to his animal friends.
• The Cutie: Just look at him. He is a small, sweet child who looks adorable when with animals.
• Fluffy Tamer: After receiving his gift, he's capable of taming all animals he interacts with. Even a full-grown jaguar, an animal notorious for being a fierce predator.
• Friend to All Living Things: It becomes Antonio's magical gift, as animals become drawn to him, and he can speak to and understand them.
• Horse of a Different Color: Antonio rides his jaguar friend like one would ride a horse.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: A jaguar but still fits. One of Antonio's frequent companions is an adult jaguar after receiving his gift and the young boy is a friendly person.
• Meaningful Name: Although not as famous as Francis of Assisi, Anthony of Padua is also a patron saint of animals, which befits Antonio's gift.
• Nice Guy: Antonio is a sweet, friendly child. The first way he employs his power is to ask his coati friends to warm up Alma's seat. It shows he is sincere in his vow to use his gift to serve others.
• Practically Different Generations: He's the youngest of Alma's grandkids are only 5 years old, but his siblings and cousins are all quite a bit older than he is.
  • Camilo (his brother) and Mirabel (his cousin) are at least ten years older than him.
  • Luisa (his cousin) is fourteen years older than him.
  • Dolores (his sister) and Isabela (his cousin) are both at least sixteen years older than him.
• Sentimental Homemade Toy: His older cousin Mirabel makes him a stuffed jaguar to help him feel less nervous about his gift ceremony, because she knows he loves animals. Antonio greatly cherishes the gift, and when their house begins to collapse, he lets Bruno borrow it to calm his nerves.
• Shrinking Violet: Downplayed. Antonio isn't painfully shy, he's just Better with Non-Human Company (sans his family) and prefers the company of animals.
• Significant Birth Date: May 21st, national Afro-Colombian day.
• Speaks Fluent Animal: His gift turns out to be the ability to talk to animals.
  Antonio: Let me help you. The rats told me everything. [to the jaguar, about to eat the rats] Don't eat those.

Bruno Madrigal

Alma's only son, and Julieta and Pepa's younger triplet brother. He mysteriously disappeared one day years ago, and the family never talks about him. Bruno's gift lets him see the future, which mostly appears on slabs of emerald glass.

• Adaptational Personality Change: He's more blunt, honest, and sarcastic in the The Deluxe Junior Novelization than in the movie.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Said only once, but once is enough to convey how affectionate it is. When he and his mother reconcile, she calls him "Brunito" and kisses him on the cheek.
  • Félix calls him "Bro."
• All of the Other Reindeer: People find Bruno creepy, and they refuse to talk about him, due to Bruno giving them prophecies that they didn't like, although no one appears to hate or mistreat him. However, Bruno has come to internalize this belief about himself, which has seriously affected his self-esteem and convinced him that he could never be an asset to his family. Even when Alma leads him back to the remains of the house, he is sheepish and visibly afraid of being rejected.
• Ambiguous Situation: How many of his prophecies were just innocent comments that the townsfolk blew out of proportion? His prediction about rain at Pepa's wedding turned out to be a joke intended to lighten the mood, and his predictions to the townsfolk (you'll grow a gut, your fish will die, etc.) could just as easily have been casual observations rather than prophecies, especially since he has to go out of his way to use his powers. It's unlikely that he would perform an elaborate ritual for such minor predictions, but the film never really addresses this point.
• Animal Motifs: Is associated with rats. Like Bruno, they are quick and slight scavengers who suffer from a bad reputation.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Out of the triplets, he's the youngest (outright described as the baby by Jared Bush). It made the loss of him all the harder.
• Bad "Bad Acting": His attempts at acting like a spooky seer fail miserably, and Mirabel sees right through them.
• Bad Bedroom, Bad Life: Justified. His magic room was originally next to his sisters, but the more isolated and rejected he felt, the more his room changed to reflect that, up to the point that it outright moved away from the other magic rooms and settled on his tower, and it became as lonely and hard to reach as he was. Although he misses his family, he appears to be more comfortable in his hidden room and recalls his old room as being “a lot of stairs.”
• Bait-and-Switch: Bruno starts as a mysterious figure who disappeared from the family. By the time we reach "We Don't Talk About Bruno" it comes across as a "The Villain Sucks" Song as people convey their "recollections" of Bruno that cast him as a classic theatrical Disney villain. The song implies that he mischievously ruined Pepa's wedding, that his 7 foot tall, rat-infested frame feasts on your screams and he makes his way through the village killing goldfish. It culminates in a dark passageway where a lightning-flash paints him as a spooky, disheveled cloaked figure whose face is illuminated by a Sickly Green Glow as a rat perches on his shoulder. When Mirabel actually meets Bruno, it turns out he's just a misunderstood seer whose spooky green powers are totally neutral. After a lifetime of people resenting his negative visions, when Bruno has an ambiguous vision involving Mirabel, he knows that they will immediately draw the worst possible conclusion and he chooses to exile himself from his family, rather than revealing what he saw and causing her to be ostracized.
• The Beastmaster: A subdued version. Ten years of isolation with no one but rats for company have made him quite good at training them to follow his commands.
• Bearer of Bad News: Bruno would tell people about their future, which was more often then not, negative in nature. As such, if they didn't like it, they'd blame him for it as if he was somehow causing the bad results. It's one of the reasons why he left.
  Bruno: Oh, Bruno makes bad things happen. He's creepy and his vision killed my goldfish!
• Big Brother Instinct: Inverted since he is both younger and shorter than both his sisters. But Bruno loves them deeply, the misunderstanding at Pepa’s wedding arose from his desire to help her relax and embrace her emotions.
  Bruno: And I wanted you to know that your bro loves you so, ♫ Let it in, let it out, let it rain, let it snow, let it gooooo! ♫.
• Black Sheep: He was unable to make his gift be helpful to the community. By the time the film opens, Bruno has disappeared, and though he is still recognized as a Madrigal, there is a taboo against his name. "We Don't Talk About Bruno" has everyone insist that all he did was bring bad news and make things worse, despite him earnestly trying his best.
• Brutal Honesty: What got him in trouble in the first place. It's implied he shared his prophecies without a filter, and thus earned the animosity of the entire town. When he meets Mirabel and saves her from falling, his first words aren't to ask if she was alright, but to note that her hands are really sweaty.
• Bucket Helmet: He puts a bucket on his head when he plays his Jorge character. Then he literally uses it as a helmet to get out of the crumbling Casita.
• Butt-Monkey: Things rarely go right for poor Bruno. He gets pushed around, has what Mirabel calls the worst room in the house, takes a dramatic fall in place of Mirabel, gets the least dignified exit out of the crumbling house and during his climactic confrontation with his mother he can't dismount his horse successfully. Oh, and there's a town-wide taboo on his name.
• Calling the Old Woman Out: He was preparing for one when he rushed in on a steed to take the blame for Mirabel a second time, yelling at Alma that all Mirabel wanted to do was help and that he doesn't care what she thinks of him. Subverted since his speech was cut short by Alma embracing him.
• Cassandra Truth: Hilariously, this happens the one time he doesn't make a prophecy, just an observation from a lifetime of experience. In the end, Bruno was right that Mirabel would be unhappy with Bruno's vision since she's positively fuming at the thought of having to embrace Isabela to save the magic.
• Cloudcuckoolander: He was always a bit off, stumbling and muttering because of his prophetic abilities, and that was before years of living with rats. His cutout rat theater is the height of cloud cuckoo land.
• Cool Uncle: While Luisa, Dolores and Isabela have no animosity towards him, he's specifically one to Mirabel. Upon having a vision that an older Mirabel would be involved in the cracking of the Casita in some way, he decided to spare the young Mirabel, who was still dealing with the trauma of not receiving a gift, from being even more ostracized by the family and shattered his final vision and went into hiding to prevent anyone else from learning about what he saw. Antonio takes to him rather quickly, thanks to the intervention of the rats, and creator Jared Bush has said on record that Antonio considers Bruno his pal. In a dark twist of this trope, Camilo is implied to have some admiration for him in an invokedEvil Is Cool kind of way, since he clearly had the time of his life impersonating him.
• Cowardly Lion: He does his best to stay out of the action, but when it looks like Mirabel will be in trouble with Abuela Alma, he rushes on a mighty steed to take the blame for his niece. Luckily, grandmother and granddaughter had already worked things out.
• Creepy Good: While he does come across as creepy and eccentric, he's lonely but a genuinely nice person who will do anything for his family.
• Dark and Troubled Past: He is second only to Alma in this regard. His past is full of fear because he kept seeing bad things from the future.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Spooky omen powers? Check. Muted palette? Check. Association with rats? Check. Black Sheep of the family? Check. Absolutely a good person? Also check.
• Death Glare: Not his default expression but he is still capable of this. His door has this as a permanent expression.
• Desperately Craves Affection: He is quick to accept hugs from his mother, sisters and brothers-in-law at the end of the film.
• Doom Magnet: Downplayed. He tends to get a lot of negative visions of the future, which is one explanation for the communal taboo against his name after he leaves.
• The Dreaded: At first, he's presented as the missing uncle that the other characters don't like to talk about due to his reputation as a Harbinger of Impending Doom, and Camilo takes it even further by describing him as a seven-foot-tall bogeyman who "feasts on your screams". However, this is ultimately subverted. Not only does he gain more characterization when he turns out to be a kind but troubled individual who truly loves his family, his family's reaction when he returns home is delight.
• Eccentric Artist: Bruno has found some... interesting ways to entertain himself during his decade of isolation. The most noteworthy is his rat theater, which has meticulous scenery with cutouts for the rat actors, and complex scripts including the forbidden romance between an amnesiac woman and her own nephew.
• Elemental Motifs: Sand. His room has a giant waterfall of sand, and his gift conjures a localized sandstorm that solidifies into a green glass tile with an imprint of his prediction. Dolores even specifically says she "associate[s] him with the sound of falling sand."
• Emerald Power: Although Camilo's overly dramatic segment during "We Don't Talk About Bruno" portrays Bruno with sickly green underlighting, when Bruno is actually using his gift, it produces a bright, glowing green especially in his eyes. When his vision is complete it is etched into a slab of glass that's emerald green.
• Endearingly Dorky: Upon first meeting him, Mirabel is noticeably concerned and put off by his antics, but the adults who know him well are visibly amused. Pepa and Félix, who happen to be very good dancers, are all smiles when Bruno does a very goofy dance for them, and even the strict Alma reacts to Bruno’s silly dismounting of the horse by calling him Brunito. He gets this from his father.
• Establishing Character Moment: He does his best to elude Mirabel's pursuit, but when she loses her footing and is in danger of falling into a chasm, he immediately turns back and rescues her. Then falls in her place. This foreshadows the reveal that he actually took the (metaphorical) fall for her.
• "Eureka!" Moment: He is normally soft spoken and morose but fills with light when he finds the butterfly. "Follow the butterfly!" It’s the first indication that the house isn’t doomed after all. He has these when he sees the visions in full.
• Evil Uncle: In "We Don't Talk About Bruno", it's implied that he's an insidious trickster who used his gift to cause disaster for the family. During the first act, Mirabel finds a shattered prophecy of herself when she's in Bruno's tower, which implies her uncle was somehow responsible for her not receiving a gift. Ultimately subverted, as Bruno turns out not to be evil at all, just bad at communicating and unfortunate in that his visions tend to be negative. He's even protective of Mirabel.
• Exhausted Eye Bags: The man really needs some restful sleep. It's implied this is symptomatic of his bad visions.
• Eye Motifs: He has the largest and most expressive eyes in the family. In the town mural and his door, his eyes are represented differently from the rest of the Madrigals, being the only person to have their eyes open aside from Dolores. When he uses his gift, they turn an unnatural shade of green. In Mirabel's dress, Bruno is represented by a pair of eyes with glasses. He has a peephole so he can observe his family during mealtimes, and the screens for his rat theater have cutouts that line up perfectly with a person's eyes as if it were a mask. It all contributes to his role as a seer, and his ability to see (and imprint) visions.
• Eye Take: Even for the art style, Bruno has large and expressive eyes that constantly arch in surprise. Especially when he is in the middle of a vision.
• False Cause: Bruno is shunned by those around him and viewed as The Jinx due to everyone making the assumption that his visions are the actual cause of their misfortunes rather than merely predictions of future events.
  Townspeople: Your fate is sealed when your prophecy is read!
• Friend to All Living Things: He shares this with his youngest nephew. Bruno loves his rat friends and shares his food with them. The rats return the favor by informing Antonio of his situation. When the house crumbles, Bruno takes the rats with him before making his escape. Bruno also takes quickly to Antonio’s animal friends, letting the Chispi join the vision and allowing the coatimundi to hang from his shoulder. He’s also very gentle with the horse that takes him to Alma and Mirabel.
• Gag Nose: His nose is so bulbous it sticks out from under his hood. It helps balance his face, since he has the largest eyes in the family.
• Glowing Eyes: His eyes (specifically his irises) glow bright green whenever he activates his power.
• Graceful in Their Element: Bruno knows the inside of the walls very well and is able to elude Mirabel with a dexterity he doesn’t show elsewhere. It makes the revelation he is a softie all the more impressive.
• Hair Style Inertia: Despite having no discernible access to a barber, he has the exact same hairstyle he had when he disappeared. He shares it with Mirabel, and it helps solidify their bond.
• Harbinger of Impending Doom: He has a bad reputation among the townsfolk because his premonitions are seen as the cause of misfortune. His gift isn't inherently limited to doomsaying, but Jared Bush has said that once Alma learned of his powers, her own traumatic past caused her to pressure Bruno to be looking into the future for potential threats to the Encanto and this led to his visions being predominantly negative.
• The Hermit: Downplayed. Bruno has isolated himself from his family for years to spare Mirabel from being ostracized over his vision of her and the cracks in the Casita. He doesn't really want to be alone, so he's chosen to hide in the walls of the Casita behind the Kitchen area ensuring that he can keep tabs on the daily activities of the family, and it seems that he "eats with" the family every chance he gets.
• Hidden Depths: Bruno is a fan of Fútbol, gameshows, and telenovelas about forbidden love. Bruno's rat theater is very complex, and his hidden room is covered with character sheets of rats as Vikings, kings, and even a version of Leonardo's Vitruvian Man. He is also skilled in masonry since he has patched the cracks for years and lays out the foundations for the new house. His room also has a complex drainage and water pipe system made of wood.
• Hikikomori: The film takes place not in Japan but in Colombia. However, the pressures and code of honor of the Madrigal family are not without their parallels, driving Bruno to withdraw from his family and never leave the house.
• Iconic Item: Hourglasses. He holds one in the mural and magic door, and stylized images of them are found throughout his tower and poncho. Appropriate for a seer, but also they resemble sideways butterflies, the animal totem for Pedro's love and the magic of the Madrigal family.
• In the Hood: When Pepa recounts her memories of Bruno during "We Don't Talk About Bruno," his face is shrouded under a hood, making him seem mysterious, accompanied by a crooked grin.
• Innocently Insensitive:
  • He didn't mean any harm, but it really was not a good idea to joke with the anxious Pepa about rain on her wedding day.
  • It was likewise he didn't intend to cause Isabela's or Dolores' cases of perfectionism or unrequited love, but telling his young nieces this certainly brought up issues for them in the long run, who thought their fates were sealed.
  • In an interview, John Leguizamo likened Bruno to "that relative who always says the wrong thing at every party", hinting that he, at least, sees this as one of Bruno's defining characteristics.
• Kubrick Stare: Sports a particularly terrifying one, accompanied by thunder and lightning when Mirabel first sees him. It's implied by the hood that he is in Hernando mode, his persona who is afraid of nothing.
• Large Ham: When he lapses into his acting as different characters, and he has moments of being very manic and hyper especially at the end of the movie.
• Like Father, Like Son: Bruno is like his father in that he is willing to sacrifice himself out of love for his family. For bonus points, his final attempt to scapegoat himself to spare Mirabel the blame of destroying the house occurs in the exact same spot where Pedro laid down his life to save his wife and children. It's worth noting that in both cases the family was mostly unaware of the extent of their love, since Bruno told no one the reason for exiling himself, while its implied Alma's grief prevented her from revealing to her family the details of Pedro's death.
• Lovable Coward: Repeatedly tries to avoid helping out Mirabel but ends up helping her all the same. He would much rather be walled in with his rats though, thank you very much.
• Mad Woman In The Attic: Or in the walls in his case. He's a rare self-imposed example, since he chooses to isolate himself because thinks his family is better off without him. While he isn't exactly "mad", it's still clear that cutting himself off from his family for so long with only rats for company hasn't been great for his mental state or social skills.
• Maiden Aunt: Bruno is a Rare Male Example of this trope. Of the triplets, he is the only unmarried and childless one, despite being around fifty. Justified, as Bruno is a social pariah, making it unlikely for him to have any romantic relationship.
• Mama's Boy: A tragic example. Bruno is Alma's baby and the only boy, but they have a complicated relationship. It's implied Bruno disliked performing his vision rituals both because they are taxing and garnered hostility from the townsfolk, but he performs his last vision specifically because Alma begs him to. Despite her cold treatment of him one of the rituals he performs is to avoid stepping on cracks, which according to superstition break a mother's back. Though he helps Mirabel he stops short of risking being seen by his mother. For her part, although Alma accuses Bruno of not caring about the family in nearly the same breath, she also admits she resents Mirabel for being the reason Bruno left. Alma also gives him a pet name, "Brunito."
• Mayincatec: The stone carvings and architecture in his tower have a nebulously pre-Columbian aesthetic.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Played straight with one meaning of his name being "armor, protection." Bruno will go to great lengths to protect his family. Ironically, he chooses to do so by removing himself from them.
  • Bruno can refer to a brown or a dark-haired person, which Bruno is indeed. It can also have a metaphorical meaning since Bruno is a case of Dark Is Not Evil.
• Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: He has a bad reputation in town, and saying his name is taboo outside and inside the Madrigal home. In "We Don't Talk About Bruno", he's set up as a menacing figure during the fantasy sequences, portraying him having a "mischievous grin" and as a seven-foot-tall bogeyman with "rats along his back". When we finally see him, Bruno is a goodhearted — if awkward — man who's troubled by his visions, and who still loves his family despite his rocky history with them.
• Mood-Swinger: Though not to the same degree as Pepa, Bruno changes mood rather abruptly. He can be serious and ominous one second and goofy and casual the next. Adding his personas Hernando (who fears nothing) and Jorge (who feels nothing) to the mix only complicated things further. It's one of the aspects that most unnerves Mirabel when she first meets him.
• Negated Moment of Awesome: Subverted. He's geared himself up for a glorious moment of Calling the Old Woman Out, and though it starts with his usual Bad "Bad Acting" he does get a few good words in before Alma shuts him up…by embracing and kissing him on the cheek. The moment turns awesome in a heartwarming way.
• Nervous Tics: Bruno rubs his arm when he's nervous.
• Nervous Wreck: Much like his sister Pepa, Bruno does suffer from anxiety, which makes sense because of the way he was treated. He might also suffer from a specific anxiety disorder such as OCD.
• Nice Guy: He's someone who clearly loves his family and apologizes for so much as raising his voice. When the house begins to crumble, he makes sure to pick up all the rats before fleeing.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • He wants to use his power to help his family, but several of his predictions did nothing but make them upset. His prediction for Dolores is implied to have made her think her feelings for Mariano would be unrequited and hide them, which made her sad and led to Isabela continuing to feel pressured to be in a relationship with him to conform to everyone's expectations.
  • Tries to comfort his anxious sister on her wedding day by joking that "It looks like rain." This backfires horribly by actually making her more anxious, because now she's worried about rain whereas before she hadn't been, and not only that, but since she has Weather Manipulation power affected by her emotions, this leads to a hurricane.
• Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: From how he is described in "We Don't Talk About Bruno", the village and several members of his family consider him a dark, mischievous man who wants to sow discord and who "feasts on your screams". When Mirabel finds him hiding in the walls of Casita, he is shown to be a very kind soul who is aware of how his prophecies are poorly received by the town and his family and is remorseful that his gift never seemed to be helping the family he loves.
• Not Quite the Right Thing: While he meant well by patching up the cracks in Casita, this only caused his family's problems to worsen since they weren't aware that something was wrong with the magic and their relationships with one another until it was too late.
• Older Than They Look: Even more so than his sisters. Bruno is around fifty, but despite his haggard appearance could pass for Mirabel's older brother. His childish demeanor may have something to do with this.
• Papa Wolf: Downplayed. While cowardly in nature, when he thinks Mirabel may be in trouble with her grandmother, Bruno rushes to verbally defend her.
• Perma-Stubble: Even before his disappearance, he had scraggly facial hair, which enhances his aura of worry and poor sleep. This is even more apparent in official artwork.
• Phrase Catcher: It's become taboo to even mention Bruno due to people's dislike of his visions. So, anyone bringing him up is reminded, "We don't talk about Bruno."
• Psychic Powers: Bruno's gift allows him to see into the future but he has little control over the images he is shown and they can appear in non-chronological order making it difficult to interpret what the future actually holds. Visions can come to him unbidden but he can also actively seek for a specific vision which requires the use of sand as a material component as this is used to create an emerald-colored quartz tablet imprinted with a significant image from the vision. Also, he is able to share his vision experience with other people such as when Mirabel joins him in his vision to save the miracle.
• Red Herring: For a while, it seems that Bruno will be the villain of the movie. The portrait on his door is foreboding, his room is creepy, and when Mirabel mentions him, he's built up as bad news. But, while he's often the bearer of them, he himself is a selfless person with his family's best interests at heart.
• Rodent Cellmates: He's spent ten years with only the Casita rats for company.
• The Runt at the End: He's shorter than either of his triplet sisters, and Word of God says he was born last.
• Sanity Slippage: While calling him insane would be a little harsh, it's implied that all his time living in the walls exacerbated his eccentricities.
• The Scottish Trope: Generally, whenever his name is brought up, there's a some kind of response to remind us that "We don't talk about Bruno". Played With in that while his name is apparently taboo, it's actually said aloud in the movie a lot and appears over twenty times in the song that's supposed to "ban" his name.
• Seers: His gift is to see into the future, unfortunately with an emphasis on unpleasant events.
• Shrinking Violet: The man is very good at pretending he doesn't exist. After he meets Mirabel for the first time in ten years, he makes a quick getaway then later tries to fend her off with a broom when she pressures him into having another vision. Most tellingly, when he returns to the house and his sisters, he’s positively cringing in fear of being rejected and can only muster a meek wave of the hand. Pepa and Julieta of course lift him up in a huge embrace.
• Significant Birth Date: According to Word of God the triplets were born on October 17th, the first day of the 1000 Days War.
• So Proud of You: The entirety of "All of You" is a collective one from the family to Mirabel, but Bruno (who sacrificed the most for her) gets the last and sweetest to Mirabel before she restores the magic.
  Bruno: You're the real gift, kid. Let us in.
• Stalker without a Crush: Played for drama. He has a peephole for the dining room table where he can watch his family together and happy without him. When Mirabel discovers this, her expression is one of utmost compassion.
• Thousand-Yard Stare: The audience is first introduced to Bruno in a mural of the Madrigal family. While the rest of the family has grins or serene smiles, Bruno alone sports a distant-yet-intense stare. This is his default expression when experiencing or remembering a powerful vision.
• Troubled, but Cute: He is an adorable Loon with a Heart of Gold, but there's something definitely odd and dark about him.
• Undying Loyalty: To Mirabel. The house he spent ten years patching is destroyed. The powers that made him a social pariah are gone. And his greatest fear is to face his mother. Yet he rushes without a thought to confront Alma and take full responsibility for Mirabel's actions to spare her from being blamed, even if it means foregoing any chance of reconciling with the family he loves so much. Fortunately for him, Alma had already reconciled with Mirabel.
• The Unfavorite: Bruno internalized this belief about himself. Dolores' verse about his gift always leaving Alma fumbling, coupled with Alma's visibly cold treatment of Mirabel following her failure to get a gift, suggests he wasn't far off.
• Unkempt Beauty: Bruno really looks like he's been through it; nevertheless, his large eyes and bouncy curls are rather endearing, and he is generally soft spoken and pleasant, which adds to his charm. He also looks quite young despite pushing fifty. Alma's flashback shows that he takes after his father, Pedro, himself a very handsome man.
• Un-person: Downplayed. Because he tended to upset people (albeit often unintentionally), the family and the rest of the town try not to talk about him. There's an entire song about it.
• Waif Prophet: A Rare Male Example who still checks all the boxes: he can see into the future, is deemed dangerous, has a sickly appearance, and a fragile mental state.
• Walking Spoiler: He's built up as a mysterious and somewhat creepy character. The reveal that he's not the villain is a spoiler that hints at what the real problem in the film is.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: He really wants to make his mother proud.