Movie Characters That Start With D: Iconic Names

Movies have brought us so many iconic characters beginning with ‘D’, and let’s explore some of the biggest ones from Darth Vader to the Dude.

We’ll have a look at some of the biggest characters and names in film starting with this magic letter, so let’s get into it!

1. Darth Vader (Star Wars)

One of the most iconic villains ever, Darth Vader is a Sith Lord who was formerly known as Anakin Skywalker and feared throughout the galaxy as a ruthless Supreme Commander of the Imperial Forces.

Initially serving as a Jedi Knight, he turned to the Dark Side of the force in the mistaken belief that it was the only thing that could save his wife from dying as seen in a vision.

After being ordered to start ridding the universe of the Jedi Knight, he confronted Obi Wan Kenobi in a battle only to be defeated and left for dead, his body mostly destroyed by fire. Rescued by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, he was put into his iconic life support black armor.

After attempting to crush the many resistance movements, the destruction of the first Death Star lead him to discover that the pilot who achieved the feat was none other than his own son.

After defeating Luke Skywalker a second time, Vader then betrayed the Emperor and threw him into the core, soon after succumbing to his wounds, thus fulfilling the prophecy of the chosen one and beginning the downfall of the Empire.

Darth Vader had superior control over the Force, being amongst the greatest wielder of it throughout the galaxy, being an adept user of the lightsaber and also being one of the greatest star pilots, even getting access to a special TIE fighter.

2. Dashiell ‘Dash’ Parr (The Incredibles)

The son and middle child of Bob and Helen Parr, he has a crop of blonde hair and blue eyes, initially appearing as a 10-year old boy.

Full of himself and very competitive, he is frustrated at having to hide his superpowers and instead vents via a series of elaborate pranks, sometimes even bullying his own family, particularly his sister Violet.

A protracted and almost fatal battle against Syndrome and the Omnidroid brought Dash back to Earth somewhat, and his maturity and willingness to control his powers has seen him allowed to compete in sports as long as he gives others a chance.

Dash has superhuman speed, agility, reflexes, combat skills and can even run on water due to his speed. This is combined with almost never-ending endurance, strength and enhanced durability.

3. Deadpool (Deadpool)

A dishonorably discharged special forces operative working as a mercenary, Wade Wilson is diagnosed with an aggressive form of terminal cancer. After being approached by someone who promises a cure, he is injected with a serum which can help awaken mutant genes.

Unfortunately, to make the serum work, Wilson has to undergo extreme pain and stress through torture. 

This doesn’t seem to work and eventually Wilson mocks his torturers so that they leave him in a state of suffocation over a weekend, finally triggering Wilson’s superhuman healing factor which gets rid of his cancer, but has the side effect of leaving him horribly disfigured.

After being left for dead, Wilson takes on the identity Deadpool (as his friend picked him to die in a dead pool) and tries to hunt down the scientists who have the cure for his condition.

Due to his near invulnerability and military training, Deadpool is a formidable opponent and adds insult to injury with his cutting jibes and comments. Never seeming to shut up to the annoyance of almost everyone around him, he never takes anything seriously.

4. Dennis the Menace (Dennis the Menace)

Easily one of the most mischievous characters in the history of fiction, Dennis is too young to be thought of as evil, but he is extremely close due to his total disregard to the consequences of his actions.

Often trying to help his neighbor, Mr Wilson, instead his actions are annoying or downright dangerous that Mr Wilson instead spends most of his time trying to avoid Dennis.

Appearing as a typical young boy of the 1990s, Dennis has blonde hair and is often seen in overalls. 

His reputation in the town is so bad that his parents can never find anybody to babysit him, so he ends up in the care of Mr Wilson when Dennis’ parents have to go on a trip.

5. Diablo (Sleeping Beauty)

The black raven accomplice of Maleficent, he is loyal to his master and competent, even more so than her other servants.

Seemingly even more perceptive than her master, Diablo achieves important parts of Maleficent’s plan, such as finding Aurora.

Diablo doesn’t suffer fools and is constantly belittling Maleficent’s goons, especially after they consistently show themselves to be failures. He has a sadistic personality and is a jet black color with pink circles under his eyes, with a yellow bear and pair of claws.

6. Diego (Ice Age)

An orange/yellow saber-toothed tiger, he initially was a ruthless hunter following orders, but after meeting Manfred and Sid, he realizes that his anointed task to steal a human baby is wrong, and he decides to leave the pack.

Joining the herd with the other animals, he is initially happy with his choices but misses the hunt with the other saber-toothed tigers. However, after a series of events, particularly the adventures in Dinosaur World, Diego decides to stay after all.

After meeting Shira, another saber-toothed tiger, Diego decides to start a family but first has to try and stop the asteroid that is going to wipe out the animals.

Diego has gone through a large personality change, initially being quick to anger and to seek revenge but mellowing out as he realizes that there is often more going on that he realizes. 

7. Dim (A Bug’s Life)

A fearsome looking rhinoceros beetle, he plays a role in the circus as a ferocious beast, but he is in fact very docile and child-like.

Ticklish and unable to put up with much pain, the black widow spider Rosie often spends most of her time acting as his mother to keep him from freaking out.

Boasting a scary roar which he uses to scare Thumper, he is the strongest bug in the circus and appears as a light blue-gray with a shimmering purple and green back shell.

8. Disgust (Inside Out)

One of the emotions inside Riley Andersen, she appears as a young woman all in green, also having green skin and hair and complemented with a pink scarf. Her attitude reveals her emotional maturity around the age of a teenager, making her the youngest.

A very picky emotion with high standards that she doesn’t want to compromise on, she sees her main task as protecting Riley.  Very highly opinionated, extremely honest and always on the lookout for any poison heading Riley’s way, she is extremely proactive.

Keen to stop both physical and social poisoning, she doesn’t have an antagonistic emotion like the others. 

9. Django (Django Unchained)

In the mid 1800s, Django is a slave that is sought after by Dr Schultz, a bounty hunter looking to buy Django due to his knowledge on his previous owner, for whom Dr Schultz is trying to serve a warrant on.

Django’s wife, Broomhilda von Shaft, is Django’s only reason for living and Schultz decides to try and help him after he was so useful in killing the Brittle brothers, the subjects of the warrant.

Django shows himself to be a smart and capable bounty hunter, being able to see several steps ahead and plan to get the most of the situation, a skill that comes in handy when attempting to purchase his wife from the sadistic Calvin J Candie.

The plan is discovered, and Candie’s previous actions including altering the deal at gunpoint, and threatening to kill Django’s wife if Schultz doesn’t shake Candie’s hand, leads to Schultz killing Candie. 

Django shows his skills in fighting and takes down several of Candie’s people, only for Broomhilda to be taken hostage and Django recaptured. 

After being sent to a mine to be worked to death, Django uses a previous handbill for a bounty he completed to convince his escorts to take him back to the plantation, as he claims that’s where the targets are. 

He kills his captors and dynamites the plantation, as he watches on with his wife.

10. Django (Ratatouille)

Remy and Emile’s father, he is the leader of the colony and a major supporting character in the film.

Noticing his son’s prodigious talent for smelling and tasting, particularly Remy prevents him from eating a poisonous apple core, he encourages him in this talent by putting him in charge of sniffing out rat poison.

However, being against humans and especially Remy’s increasingly close association with Linguini causes Django to warn Remy off this path, as humans are the ones constantly trying to kill rats.

After seeing Remy’s passion and dedication as well as success in the restaurant, he relents and instead calls all the other rats together to help out, including locking Skinner and the Health Inspector in a storeroom to stop them interfering. 

11. Doc (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)

The leader of the seven dwarfs, he has a slight speech impediment that makes him seem slow or dull witted, but in fact he is intelligent and a great leader that the other dwarfs look up to.

While Grumpy doesn’t like him much, Doc seems to be an effective organizer of the various dwarfs, and sometimes comes across as pompous. He can get lost in his own thoughts relatively easily, but makes sure everyone is doing the right thing.

However, Doc is not great under pressure, tending to panic or getting too flustered to make good decisions. Other dwarfs are able to assist him in these situations based upon his past leadership and organization, however.

12. Doc Hudson (Cars)

AKA the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, he is one of the most famous race cars in history. Winning three Piston Cups in a row and still holds the record for most wins in a single season.

After going through a career-ending crash, he tries to make a comeback but is seen as a has-been. This event causes Doc to become jaded and realize how fleeting success can be, eventually causing him to give up racing and then become a mechanic (or doctor).

He pursues the life of a physician in the tiny town of Radiator Springs as a ‘doctor of internal combustion’, with the surrounding residents and friends not realizing his stellar racing past. Based on a 1951 Hudson Hornet, he changed his paint job when he gave up racing.

13. Don Carlton (Monsters University)

A mature-age student at Monsters University, he is a member of the Oozma Kappa fraternity and serves as its president. He eventually becomes a Scarer at Monsters, Inc.

14. Donkey (Shrek)

A donkey who becomes the sidekick and best friend of Shrek (to Shrek’s protests), he is a very talkative donkey with a massive smile consisting of big teeth.

After escaping from the Duloc Guards and being helped by Shrek, he decides that Shrek is a better bet than whatever is chasing him.

15. Donnie Darko (Donnie Darko)

A teenage boy who sees visions, notably of a talking rabbit Frank, he is told by Frank that the world will end in 28 days. 

After waking up far from home, he returns only to find a jet engine has crashed into his bed, which would have killed him were he home. After confessing he hears voices, he is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Frank’s influences lead Donnie to cause a teacher’s child pornography stash to be discovered, as well as his love interest Gretchen getting run over by a car and killed, with the driver being a man in a giant bunny suit, who Donnie shoots.

Realizing that Donnie is the cause of many of these events due to a time vortex, he instead sacrifices himself so that the events never happen.

16. Dopey (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)

The youngest member appearing in a green smock with a purple hat, he is quite silly and immature. He doesn’t speak.

17. Dormouse (Alice in Wonderland)

Panicking at the mention of the word ‘cat’, he needs jam to be spread on his nose to calm down. Otherwise, he is lazy and sleepy most of the time.

18. Dorothy Gale (The Wizard of Oz)

After a tornado drops the house she is in in an unknown land, she finds herself being chased by the Wicked Witch of the East after the house unintentionally killed her sister, the Wicked Witch of the West.

After receiving the dead witch’s ruby slippers, she embarks on a journey to get to the Wizard of Oz, as he is the only one who can help her get back.

19. Dory (Finding Dory)

A regal blue Tang fish, she has short-term memory loss and is trying to get back to her parents. She enlists the help of Bailey, a beluga whale, and Hank, an octopus who is missing a tentacle, to guide her back to her family.

20. Dracula (Count Dracula)

A vampire who is a nobleman from centuries past, he has been living for countless years due to his supernatural powers of the undead.

With the ability to bite others and turn them into vampires or familiars, Dracula has formidable powers of strength, including the ability to climb walls and jump great distances.

Dracula is well-spoken and appears normal, meaning he can use his charms and aristocratic nature to convince humans to do his bidding, such as the lawyer Jonathan Harker. He is intelligent, which is only enhanced due to his abundance of time to study.

21. Driver (Drive)

A nameless stuntman for Hollywood, he moonlights as a getaway driver for hire. After getting fond of his neighbor, her recently released husband draws him into a million-dollar heist which makes Driver the target of gangsters.

22. Dumbo (Dumbo)

Real name Jumbo Jr but cruelly called Dumbo, he has a friend mouse and is eventually taught to fly by using his massive ears.

23. The Dude (The Big Lebowski)

Dubbed the laziest man in California, he just wants to get his rug back from a bunch of non-house trained thugs. Doing drugs and listening to his favorite music, but not the Eagles, he bumbles through a scheme that is made all the more difficult by his friend Walter.

Eventually ending up with a suitable replacement rug that then gets stolen again, he eventually discovers that not everything is as it seems but loses his car and friend Donny in the process.