Tools of Characterization

Characterization in Inside Out

Names

The five emotions running the show in Riley's head are all named explicitly for what they represent. Joy is joy. Sadness is sadness. Anger is anger. Fear is fear. And Disgust is flatulence.

No, she's not. Of course, she's disgust. (BTW, no matter what your dad says, flatulence isn't an emotion.)

There are no hidden meanings buried here. These characters are directly characterized by their on-the-nose names. Sometimes subtlety is overrated.

Personification

In case you need a quick refresher, personification is what happens when you give human traits to something that isn't human, like a dog or a hospitable French candelabrum. Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust are all intangible concepts made to seem human by their personification.

Let's zero in on Fear as an example. He's tall, thin, and perpetually harried-looking, and he dresses like a junior high chemistry teacher. He's nervous and constantly worried about Riley's safety, often to the extreme.

JOY: Fear, I need a list of all the possible negative outcomes on the first day at a new school.

FEAR: Way ahead of you there. Does anybody know how to spell "meteor"?

Fear, the character, is frequently afraid—not just by meteors, but by change, as well. When Meg tells Riley over video chat about the new girl on the hockey team, Fear immediately freaks out because Meg has a new friend already. Later, when Fear's on dream duty, he predicts the content of Riley's stress dream (teeth falling out, no pants at school) because nervousness is his jam.

These elements—his appearance, his words and actions, his anxiety—combine to make him into a relatable (albeit purple) person. He behaves like you or we do, except he's an abstract concept that lives in an eleven-year-old girl's brain. He's a metaphor made into a man.

Emotions: They're just like us.

Physical Appearance

Did you happen to notice that Disgust looks like a broccoli floret? Riley's sense of disgust is an opinionated, fashion-forward female who resembles the food Riley finds the most disgusting. Makes sense, right?

Imagine if Riley's least favorite food was liver and onions. Yeesh.

All five of Riley's emotions are characterized by the way they look. Fear is slim and frazzled with the posture of a question mark; his body looks like a nerve. Anger is short, stocky, and red. He dresses like a no-frills corporate drone.

Joy, meanwhile, is bright and effervescent, with shimmering gold skin and cropped blue hair. Sadness is blue from head to toe, save her frumpy turtleneck sweater and giant glasses. She's round and meek, with a physique that suggests she would work out, if only she didn't find kettle bells so depressing.

These spot-on physical appearances serve to reinforce the personality traits of each character. In other words, one look at Sadness, and there's no way anybody's going to mistake her for Joy.

Deep Thought That Just Occurred to Shmoop: Is Joy's blue hair a…foreshadowing? Maybe Joy already has that touch o' sadness that's necessary for true joy to be appreciated. She just doesn't know it yet.