List of minor characters in the Alice series facts for kids
This article lists the interesting minor characters from Lewis Carroll's famous books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass (1871). These characters add a lot of fun and mystery to Alice's adventures!
Characters from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Sister
Alice's older sister is with Alice at the very start of the first book. They are sitting by a river, and Alice's sister is reading a book. Alice falls asleep with her head in her sister's lap and begins her amazing dream about Wonderland.
When Alice wakes up, she tells her sister all about her dream. The book ends with her sister imagining what Alice will be like when she grows up. Some people think her name might be Lorina, like Alice's real-life sister. In some movies, she has different names, like Mathilda or Margaret.
Dinah
Dinah is Alice's beloved pet cat. She is Alice's best friend in both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Alice often talks to Dinah and mentions her to the creatures she meets in Wonderland. For example, when Alice describes Dinah's hunting skills to the animals in the Caucus Race, they get very nervous!
Dinah also appears in the Disney movie. Later, a cat named Dinah, who is a descendant of the original, appears in Alice's Wonderland Bakery.
The Duchess's Cook
This cook works for the Duchess. She is known for being very grumpy and throwing things! She uses a huge amount of pepper in her soup, which makes everyone, including Alice and the Duchess's baby, sneeze a lot.
The Cook gets very angry if anyone bothers her while she's cooking. She even throws pots and pans at Alice and the baby! She also appears briefly at the Queen of Hearts's trial. There, she says the stolen tarts were made with pepper.
The Eaglet, the Lory, the Duck, and the Dodo
These bird characters appear in chapters two and three of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Lewis Carroll, the author, based these characters on his friends who were with him on a boating trip. Alice Liddell became Alice in the story. The Lory was based on Lorina Charlotte Liddell, Alice's older sister. The Eaglet was another sister, Edith Liddell. The Duck was a friend named Rev. Robinson Duckworth. And the Dodo was Carroll himself, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He sometimes stammered, saying his last name as "Do-do-dodgson."
During their real-life boating trip, it started to rain. Carroll changed this part in the book. Instead of going to a house to dry off, the characters have a silly "Caucus Race" to get dry.
The Dodo appears in the 1951 Disney film, but the Eaglet, the Lory, and the Duck do not.
The Executioner
The Executioner works for the King and Queen of Hearts. He is usually shown as a playing card, like the Card painters. He often represents the clubs suit, but sometimes he's a spade, a heart, or even a joker.
In the 1951 Disney film, some of the Queen's Card Soldiers are executioners. They are spades and carry axes.
In Tim Burton's 2010 film, the Executioner works for the Red Queen. He has a heart-shaped axe, suggesting he's a heart card. He was played by actor Jim Carter and is a computer-generated character in the film.
Fish Footman
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In the book, the Fish Footman delivers an invitation from the Queen of Hearts to the Duchess's Frog Footman. This invitation is for a game of croquet. The Frog Footman then gives the invitation to the Duchess.
In Tim Burton's 2010 film, the Red Queen has a Fish Footman who works as a butler in her castle.
Frog Footman
The Frog Footman is an animal character with human traits. He is a frog who wears a bow tie and has white hair. He works as a footman for The Duchess. He receives a letter from the Fish Footman to give to the Duchess.
In the 2010 film, there are many Frog Footmen who work for the Red Queen. One of them was almost executed for eating the Queen's tarts because he was too hungry!
Mary Ann
Mary Ann is the housemaid for the White Rabbit. Alice is mistaken for her at one point in the story. Mary Ann herself never actually appears in the book; she is only mentioned.
The Pig Baby
The Pig Baby appears in Chapter 6 of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, titled "Pig and Pepper." When Alice enters the Duchess's house, she sees the Duchess holding a human baby. The baby is crying and sneezing because of all the pepper in the air. The Duchess sings a song to the baby and shakes it wildly.
The Duchess then throws the baby to Alice, who catches it and walks outside. Alice soon realizes that the baby is not really human. It starts to grow pig ears and a pig nose! Alice finally sets the pig down, and it runs off into the woods.
The Playing Cards
These characters are playing cards that have human heads, arms, and legs. They are loyal servants and guards for the Queen of Hearts. They usually carry spears with heart-shaped tips.
Alice first meets three of them at the Queen's castle. They are painting white roses red because they accidentally planted white roses, and the Queen hates them! If they don't paint them, the Queen will execute them. When the Queen arrives, she finds some white roses and orders the three cards to be executed. Alice quickly hides them in a flowerpot.
Later, when Alice plays croquet with the Queen, the card soldiers act as the arches for the game. They also appear at the trial where the Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing the Queen's tarts.
The Playing Cards also appear in the 1951 Alice in Wonderland animated film. In this version, they wear masks shaped like card symbols. They are seen painting roses and chasing Alice through the labyrinth.
In the 2010 film, they are called "Red Knights" and serve the Red Queen. They wear red armor with heart-shaped shoulder plates.
Tortoise
Tortoise is the Mock Turtle's teacher. He doesn't actually appear in the story, but is only mentioned. He is a sea turtle. When Alice asks why he was called Tortoise if he was a turtle, the Mock Turtle makes a funny pun (a play on words). He replies, "We called him tortoise because he taught us!"
Characters from Through the Looking-Glass
Returning Characters
Several characters from the first book also appear in Through the Looking-Glass.
- Dinah: Alice's cat reappears, now with two kittens.
- Alice's sister: She is briefly mentioned, even though she doesn't appear.
- Frog Footman: He makes a small appearance as a gardener.
- Hatter and Hare: The Hatter and the March Hare from the Mad Tea Party reappear as messengers for the White King. They are renamed Hatta and Haigha.
Kitty
Kitty is Dinah's black kitten. She is a character in Through The Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. Kitty takes on the role of the Red Queen in Alice's dream. She appears in the first and last chapters of the book.
Snowdrop
Snowdrop is Dinah's white kitten. She is also a character in Through The Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. Snowdrop takes on the role of the White Queen in Alice's dream. Like Kitty, she appears in the first and last chapters.
Nobody
Nobody is a character the White King mentions. When Alice says, "I see nobody on the road," the King acts as if he knows someone named Nobody. This suggests that the King actually knows a person named Nobody, which is a funny misunderstanding.
Talking Flowers
Alice meets many different kinds of flowers in the garden, and they can talk! These include a tiger-lily, a rose, an iris, pansies, tulips, and many more.
The flowers first mistake Alice for a type of flower that can move. The tiger-lily is the first one Alice talks to, and she helps explain things to the other flowers. When Alice asks if they are scared when no one takes care of them, the rose tells her about a tree that protects them. The daisies tell her the tree says "Bough-wough," which is why branches are called boughs.
The flowers can be a bit rude sometimes. The violet tells Alice she looks stupid! The rose tells Alice about another "flower" that can move like her, but is redder and wears thorns on her head. Alice soon realizes this red "flower" is the Red Queen, whose hair looks like petals and her crown like thorns. Alice then leaves the flowers to meet the Queen.
In the Disney film, Alice meets the Talking Flowers before she meets the Caterpillar. They sing her a song called "Golden Afternoon."
Red Knight
The Red Knight is the Red King's knight in the chess game that is the basis for Through the Looking-Glass. Alice meets him while riding through a wood. He tries to capture her for the Red side.
Then, the White Knight appears and says he has rescued her. The two knights decide to fight over Alice, following the Looking-Glass world's strange "Rules of Battle." Alice notices these rules are very odd. For example, if one knight hits the other, he knocks him off his horse. But if he misses, he falls off himself! The fight ends with both knights falling off their horses. The White Knight is somehow decided as the winner. They shake hands, and the Red Knight rides away.
Train Passengers
While Alice is riding a train across the third square of the Looking-Glass world, she meets several unusual passengers. These include a man dressed in white paper, a goat, a horse with a cold, a beetle, and the Gnat.
Guard
This Guard works on the train that Alice takes through the third square. He collects the passengers' giant tickets. He gets angry at Alice because she doesn't have a ticket.
Aged Man
The Aged Man only appears in a poem called "Haddocks' Eyes" that the White Knight recites to Alice. In the poem, the Knight meets the Aged Man sitting on a gate in a field. He asks the man what he does for a living. The man gives a long list of silly jobs, like making waistcoat buttons from haddock eyes or digging for buttered rolls.
The poem describes him as:
...that old man I used to know—
Whose look was mild, whose speech was slow
Whose hair was whiter than the snow,
Whose face was very like a crow,
With eyes, like cinders, all aglow,
Who seemed distracted with his woe,
Who rocked his body to and fro,
And muttered mumblingly and low,
As if his mouth were full of dough...
The Aged Man represents the White King's bishop in the chess game.
Lily
Lily is the daughter of the White Queen. The White Queen is looking for her daughter Lily. Since Lily is too young to play the chess game, Alice takes her place as a pawn.
The Monstrous Crow
The Crow is listed as the Red King's bishop in the chess game. However, Alice never actually meets it in the story. According to a rhyme, it is "black as a tar-barrel" and very, very big. The Tweedle brothers (who are the white rooks) are terrified of the Crow. When they see the White Queen's black shawl blowing in the wind, they mistake it for the scary bird and run away.
Bread and Butterfly
The Bread-and-Butterfly is a funny insect from Through the Looking-Glass. Its name and shape are a pun on "bread and butter." Its wings are thin slices of bread-and-butter, its body is a crust, and its head is a lump of sugar. It lives on weak tea with cream.
In the 1951 Disney movie, it appears as a butterfly with wings made of buttered bread.
Rocking Horse Fly
The Rocking-Horse-Fly is another interesting insect from Through the Looking-Glass. Its name and shape are a pun on a rocking-horse. Its body looks like a horse with wings, and its legs are connected to rockers, so it rocks back and forth. It is made entirely of wood and lives on sap and sawdust.
In the 1951 Disney movie, its body is yellow with red parts. In the 2010 film, it has a black-and-white polka-dotted body.
Snap-Dragonfly
The Snap-Dragonfly is an insect from Through the Looking-Glass. Its name and shape are a pun on a traditional game called snap-dragon and a plant called a snapdragon.
The Gnat describes it:
'Look on the branch above your head,' said the Gnat, 'and there you'll find a snap-dragon-fly. Its body is made of plum-pudding, its wings of holly-leaves, and its head is a raisin burning in brandy.'
'And what does it live on?'
'Frumenty and mince pie,' the Gnat replied; 'and it makes its nest in a Christmas box.'
In the 2010 film, the Snap-Dragonfly looks like a dragon with antennae. Its name is a pun on the word 'dragon' from dragonfly.
The Gnat
Alice meets the gnat while she is on the train. He calls Alice an old friend, but Alice doesn't remember him, which makes him sad. During the train ride, the Gnat talks about topics he thinks would make good jokes. He loves jokes but prefers others to tell them. After the train journey, the Gnat introduces Alice to the three strange insects: the Rocking-Horse-Fly, the Snap-Dragonfly, and the Bread-and-Butterfly. Then, he sighs himself away.
The Fawn
Alice meets the Fawn in Chapter 3 after getting off the train and entering an open field. Both Alice and the Fawn have forgotten their names. They decide to walk together while trying to remember.
Suddenly, the Fawn remembers its name and realizes Alice is a human. It instinctively runs away. Alice feels sad but is glad that the Fawn helped her remember her own name.
In the 1985 film, the Fawn doesn't speak. Alice sings a song to it, and then it leaves to find its mother.
Characters created for films
Some characters were created specifically for the movies and do not appear in Lewis Carroll's original books.
- The Doorknob: (voiced by Joseph Kearns) This character was created for the 1951 Disney Film. The Doorknob likes to sleep and prefers quiet. It also hides the world's Keyhole in the Kingdom Hearts video game.
- The Owl: This character appears in the 1985 movie version. The Owl gives Alice advice about being brave. He is played by Jack Warden.
- Bayard the Bloodhound: (voiced by Timothy Spall) Created for the 2010 Tim Burton film. He is an older version of the Puppy from the book. He also has a wife and puppies in the film.
- The Ascots: A family from the 2010 film. Their son, Hamish (Leo Bill), wants to marry Alice. Lord and Lady Ascot are played by Tim Pigott-Smith and Geraldine James.
- Charles Kingsleigh: Alice's beloved father in the 2010 film, played by Marton Csokas. His wife is played by Lindsay Duncan.
