The Co-Stars
Hoggle
Hoggle is Sarah's closest friend on her journey through the Labyrinth. He's not a goblin, but a kind of Fairy Tale
Dwarf as you'd find in Snow White. He alternates between bravery, nonchalance, and cowardice, and is sometimes attached to Sarah in a crushy, affectionate way. But he's a True Hero because
he saves Sarah from the Oubliette (how the hell else would she have gotten out?) and brings down the
Evil Robot at the entrance to Goblin City. Some of the best scenes and best dialogue belong to him, especially
in his dealings with Jareth.
Hoggle may be a groundskeeper or something. He's shown exterminating fairies outside the Labyrinth, and there are some
gardening tools near him in the beginning. He also knows the Labyrinth very well and is hanging out in front for no
apparent reason.
Most importantly (and ridiculous when you think about it), Hoggle is probably the 'deepest' character in
Labyrinth. He's more explored than the leads, has a greater range of emotions, and seems to grow in character.
He has a
lot of dialog and some of it is introspective, or at least it betrays his real motives, so he comes off very alive and
complex. This kind of attention should have been given to Sarah and Jareth; it's just one more of the odd
things about this movie.
Ludo
After Jareth, Ludo may be our favorite character. How can anyone not love Ludo ?!
He's a giant monster who walks upright but has a slumpy, ape-like posture. He has huge sharp horns,
stands about eight feet tall, and probably weighs a thousand pounds. He could easily rip your head off, but this guy is
a gentle giant. He's even a helpful, sensitive fellow and easily frightened.
This is kind of an archetype now - the big, scary guy who is actually a gentle sweetheart (think Kevin Durand), but
in the 80s it was a newer idea.
Ludo doesn't talk about himself, so we don't find out if there are others of his kind or even how he came to be hanging upside down, where Sarah
finds him. He isn't a great linguist. Most of his sentences consist of two words, "Ludo (adjective)," as he can't
refer to himself in first-person. He's like a giant Pokemon that way.
Ludo has an interesting design, moreso than many of Labyrinth's creatures. He looks like a 'Spare Part' beast,
one of those animals that was put together by a committee that never actually met, but mailed in suggestions. He's
like Giant Orangutan + Water Buffalo, but he also has tusks and a long tail. And he has a strong connection to the
earth, as he can call rocks and boulders for help. Because of this, Ludo is one of the few friends that
Sarah meets that actually earn their keep.
Didymus and Ambrosius
Labyrinth camps are divided on whether Didymus is a good character or just irritating. To us, he's irritating, kinda
useless, and too OTT in personality to be believable or likable as a character. They didn't balance out
the frenetic side of his personality, and he also suffers for being a late addition to the cast. In this type of movie,
we think that you should gather your friends early on; Act 2's Twilight is a bit late to complete your entourage, especially
with
an outrageous, potentially abrasive character like Didymus.
Ambrosius is an Old English Sheepdog, basically the same dog as Merlin. But he's not Merlin (note that
Ambrosius doesn't recognize or react to Sarah), just a normal dog who (for some reason) lives in the Labyrinth.
He's a little smarter than a dog, but he can't talk. This is unlike Didymus, who acts human and even
walks upright. But these guys are a team, and they live together in the Bog of Eternal Stench. We don't know how this is possible (yo where does their drinking water come from?) but Didymus is there on assignment - to protect a
bridge that falls apart as soon as anyone steps on it.
"Why Didymus Rides a Dog"...
After Jareth's Pants and The Riddle of the Doors, this is a top issue in Labyrinth.
Didymus is a dog (Jack Russell Terrier, says the designers, but we don't see it) and he has a "pet" dog
that he uses as a beast of burden. Based on his medieval tack and trappings, Ambrosius is some kind of war animal left
over from Didymus's military days.
Now, normally when you're a military muppet serving in some kind of Underground theater that is never explained to
the audience, your accoutrements and war animals are decommissioned when Peace is declared. It's strange to have private
ownership of said animal at all, let alone keep it in military dress to be summoned for service at a moment's notice.
But there's a bigger tree in this forest:
Why does Didymus ride anything?
Ambrosius is a lousy, cowardly steed anyway, no one else needs a steed (Sarah and Hoggle don't have them), Didymus is fully capable of walking,
and he seems to live right next door to the Goblin City.
The trouble we have with Didymus, beyond his general, hyperactive annoyance (which is pervasive), is that he's not useful as
a member of the group. He's not a good fighter, doesn't have any special skills, and doesn't help much in the Goblin
City battle. He basically just tags along for color.
Assorted Goblins
"Goblins" is a slippery term. They appear in all shapes and sizes and must represent lots of different species.
Some goblins are tiny and puppet-like, while others are big enough to have people acting them from the inside. Your
average goblin is grayish or brownish and has distorted features, sometimes fur, sometimes horns, and always a low IQ.
These seem
to be the "bad" goblins that are under Jareth's direct control, but there are tons of other creatures Underground that
may be something else. Is Ludo a Goblin? Why does the Underground have all these creatures, but also have normal
animals like dogs, cats, and chickens?
Considering that the goblins feature so prominently in Labyrinth, it's a little odd that we never learn any of their
names and there is so much mystery around them. Like where do they come from (were they all transformed from
human children?), are they magical/immortal beings, and
why does it seem like no two goblins look alike? But that's just the fun of Jim Henson's imagination. As you watch
Labyrinth, always take a moment to ask yourself:
Is that a Puppet, Muppet, Monster, Fraggle, or Goblin?
Toby
Toby is Sarah's baby brother. He's the only actor who got to play himself, which was good because he had no range anyway,
and easy because the script mainly called for baby behaviors like "Wailing incessantly" and "Shutting up and staring
dumbly."
He's on this Co-star page because he's crucial to the plot, but for a co-star he was minimal and not given a personality.
It looks like they didn't even try to make him cute. Like even for a baby, he comes off as empty and
not 'special' in any way. Maybe that was deliberate to suggest that Sarah just sees him as a burden of responsibility
(part of becoming an adult, being responsible?) - plus, an emotional attachment wouldn't work for the storyline.
We also wonder why Sarah was ever assigned to babysit this guy, because she's genuinely poor at it and clearly dislikes
him (in the novel, she's quite bitter and jealous of him), and he has no affection for her either. Actually Toby seems unhappy (or at best indifferent) in the Ordinary World,
and perks up when he spends time with Jareth. The Goblins are a fun-loving bunch, and maybe Toby would have had a better
future with them.
** Note that in this pic of Toby, there's a Goblin plushie behind him.
Worm !
Ahh, Worm is sweet. We never learn anything about him, not even his name, but he's one of the
best supporting players in this movie.
He's one of very few characters who actually help Sarah and
are genuinely friendly. So many things in the Labyrinth are confusing, deceptive, or just plain
assholes who don't care if you live or die by the crappy advice they give you while pretending
to know what they're talking about.
But Worm is just a cute, quaint little guy who wants you to come inside (somehow?!) and have tea.
And meet Mrs. Worm. This is telling, as he may be the only Labyrinth creature who has the people
skills to keep a marriage
together.
Brian Froud designed him to be Dickensian. This is why Worm is British and has a scarf on. (We agree.
Stripped to the bones,
every Dickens plot is just an excuse to wrap kindly Englishmen in scarves.) Best of all, he saves Sarah from wandering
endlessly in the outer walls of the
Labyrinth. Without his help, she might have lost several hours and not gotten to the castle on time.
This is why he's on the Co Star Page!. Well, partly because we like him and wanted to give him a
place of honor. He's not a true Co-Star, but an Unsung Hero. Sara meets
him very early on - his guidance alters her journey dramatically. It's Worm who puts her on the
path to encounter everything as it plays out, and he may have changed the
whole outcome of the movie.
An odd thing about Worm is that he
calls himself "a worm." We think that due to his fuzzy, compact, non-slimy body, Worm is actually a caterpillar.
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