Movie Characters That Start With O: Iconic Names

Looking through the long list of famous and iconic characters, there are so many to choose from, so let’s focus on those that have names starting with the letter ‘O’.

So join me as we go through some old and new films, both live action and animated, to look at some of the biggest names.

1. Obelix (Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra)

A massive warrior who fell into a cauldron of strength-enhancing magic potion and drank the whole lot to prevent himself from drowning, he forever maintains the amazing strength and is banned from drinking anymore.

A Menhir sculptor and deliveryman, Obelix is Asterix’s best friend and hates being called fat and is never seen far from his dog, Dogmatix. He is often seen in a massive pair of blue and white striped pants with no shirt and bright red plaited hair with a metal helmet.

After the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra bets against the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar, she vows to build a new palace for Caesar within three months and signs up Edifis to do it, with failure meaning his fate is to be eaten by crocodiles.

Edifis calls upon a Druid Getafix from Gaul who brings along Asterix and Obelix to accompany him. When Julius Caesar finds out that he is looking likely to lose, he orders attacks on the construction site by his troops.

However, Obelix’s strength and Asterix’s cunning means Caesar cannot succeed.

2. Obi Wan Kenobi (Star Wars)

A legendary Force-sensitive Jedi Master, Obi Wan Kenobi served on the Jedi High Council during the dying last years of the Republic Era.

Forced into exile as a result of the Great Jedi Purge, he is perhaps most infamous for training both Anakin and Luke Skywalker.

After watching his own mentor Qui-Gon Jinn get killed by Darth Maul, he defeated him and attained the rank of Jedi Knight. 

After fighting in the clone wars and also defeating General Grievous thus causing the Confederacy of Independent Systems to surrender, he then became the High Jedi General in the Grand Army of the Galactic Republic.

Seeing Skywalker fall to the dark side, he defeated him in a battle and left him for dead, only for him to be rescued by Darth Sidious and turned into Darth Vader.

Obi Wan Kenobi then took on the name Ben Kenobi and looked after Luke Skywalker from afar, by putting them both on Tatooine. After being made aware of Skywalker’s sister Princess Leia Organa’s plight, he hired Han Solo to take him to rescue her.

Kenobi is a caring character who tries to do the right thing under massive pressure, with quite literally the whole weight of the galaxy on his shoulders. His failures with the senior Skywalker showed him the ways to deal with younger, ultimately being victorious.

3. Ocean (Moana)

Having a high level of sentience and part of the greater logic of the universe, it has been searching for someone like Moana to save the world from the curse afflicting the sea.

After finding her, Ocean is a massive help throughout her journey.

It can use its mass to form tentacle-like appendages to enable Ocean to grab objects.

It even shows certain anthropomorphic abilities, like head-nodding or high-fiving, useful as a way of communicating with Moana and others. 

4. Odie (Garfield: The Movie)

A yellow-furred, brown-eared wire-haired dachshund and terrier mix, he comes into Garfield’s life after being adopted by Garfield’s owner Jon, actually in a chance to get closer to the cute veterinarian.

After lucking out and winning a talent contest, Garfield resents his canine roommate even more, leading him to lock Odie outside only for him to run away. After an unethical dognapping by a TV segment producer, Garfield has to rescue the hopeless Odie.

Sometimes Odie’s large tongue seems to be all he is made of, and he outputs several liters of slobber over everything and anything nearby.

5. Ol’ Jammer (Planes 2: Fire and Rescue)

A tour bus at Piston Peak who has been working the job for decades, he knows everything there is to know about the trail.

He loves to share his passion and knowledge with any visitors, and is a competent guide as shown by when he helps when a fire threatens to take out the lodge and anyone on Piston Peak.

Jammer ends up becoming the superintendent of the Grand Fusel Lodge.

He has a look similar to that of Smokey the Bear, with a green hat on top of a mild yellow body.

6. Olaf (Frozen)

An enchanted snowman created by Elsa, he is kind-hearted and benevolent.

Somewhat unexpectedly, he loves summer and anything hot including nice, warm hugs. He can reassemble his body which comes in handy given his above likes.

Outgoing and full of energy, Olaf gets along with everyone and is very childlike in his outward appearance and demeanor. Very naive but with an enviable ability to remain cool in the more dire of situations, he teaches Anna some very important lessons.

Olaf is also one of the first to realize that Anna’s sacrifice based out of true love is the reason why the curse has been broken.

7. Olive Oyl (Popeye)

After meeting Popeye when he boards at the family boarding house, Olive Oyl is engaged to Captain Bluto, a local bully who manages the town for the never present Commodore.

After Olive leaves a party and meets Popeye outside, they also discover a baby that they henceforth adopt, only for Bluto to find out and beat up Popeye, as well as putting a lot of taxes on the Oyl family property and harassing them via the tax collector.

After Popeye helps out with the situation, Olive has some regrets about how the union with Popeye is going and the two separate, only for Bluto to kidnap her and force Popeye to go after her and get his new kid back.

8. Oliver (Oliver and Company)

A small orange tabby cat, he is brave and caring, while also being an amazing friend to those around him who deserve it.

While he shows he is not happy with the lifestyle of being with Fagin and the other dogs, pining for the comfort of his old life with Jenny.

However, Oliver is not stupid and knows when people are trying to get one over him, such as when he got angry when he got conned by out of some sausages that he helped steal.

He also shows how protective he is of the people he cares about, shown by him jumping from Fagin’s cart onto Sykes’ car, and biting them.

Oliver is a very nimble mover and quick learner, learning from the other dogs very quickly once shown something once.

9. Oliver Twist (Oliver Twist)

A young orphan, he is taken to a workhouse but later sold to a local undertaker.

After abuse at the hands of the undertaker, he then joins a pickpocket gang run by Fagin, only for that to result in his arrest after being accused of stealing from Mr Brownlow, who instead takes him in out of pity after realizing he is innocent.

After Oliver is wounded in a scheme to keep him quiet, and after a murder of Nancy, the city’s authorities turn on Fagin and Sikes, with the later killing himself accidentally and Fagin being put to death.

Oliver finally catches a break, only fair given his general kindness and hard life thus far, and ends up living with Mr Brownlow.

10. Once-Ler (The Lorax)

Loving to invent things, his goal in life is to make the Thneed, a contraption that could do any job you ask of it.

He is nicknamed Beanpole, due to being tall and lanky.

Not getting a lot of support from his family, he leaves them to try and achieve his dream.

When gets to a massive valley full of amazing lifeforms, he chops down a Truffula Tree. This causes the Lorax to appear and warn him off such a reckless decision, which Once-Ler takes to heart.

However, the money on offer causes Once-Ler to become corrupt, once again leaving him exiled from his family and alone for years, isolated even from his mule Melvin.

An elderly Once-Ler tells this story to Ted, also giving him the final Truffula Tree seed. Ted takes the seed and regrows the trees, with the Lorax coming back to congratulate him on finally making the right decision.

11. Onus (Treasure Planet)

One of John Silver’s pirate crew, he is an Optoc pirate with an appearance like a giant slug with six eyes on stalks.

A loudmouth pirate, he is nonetheless superstitious and pessimistic, the latter likely because they fail so often when attempting heists and booty snatching.

12. Oogie Boogie (The Nightmare Before Christmas)

A bug-filled burlap sack, he lives on the outskirts of Halloween Town.

Being a massive fan of gambling, he also lives in a casino-like lair with his henchmen Lock, Shock, and Barrel. 

He has a cannibalistic appetite, and a strong rivalry with Jack Skellington.

The embodiment of a child’s nightmare, he is always trying to outdo Jack Skellington and be the scariest monster.

Trying to get Halloween renamed to Crawloween and making it dedicated to bugs, Oogie’s scheme was eventually foiled by Jack, who exiled him to his lair and banned him from interacting with the wider community.

Oogie Boogie is boisterous and flamboyant, loving to sing musical tunes and suffering from somewhat of a split personality, he is at times jovial and then evil in the same breath.

With his cannibalism not being enough, he likes to be sadistic so before killing and eating his victims he enjoys taunting and mocking their helplessness.

13. Oogway (Kung Fu Panda)

A senior tortoise who is the master of Jade Palace, he founded the Valley of Peace and is also the creator of Kung-Fu, including developing the Dragon Warrior legend.

Respected across the kingdom for his knowledge and wisdom, he is a sage and held in high esteem by Shifu, Furious Five, Po and many others.

Known for achievements including bringing peace to the Valley

14. Optimus Prime (Transformers)

A Cybertronian, an extraterrestrial sentient robot lifeform who takes the form of cars and other objects, Optimus Prime is based on a Freightliner FL86 semi truck but in the movie a Peterbilt 379 is used instead to portray Optimus.

Optimus is the leader of the Autobots, one of the factions of the Cybertronians who is often fighting with the Decepticons.

Optimus Prime is often the hero of the franchise, showing strong moral character and leadership.

15. Orville (The Rescuers)

A serious flier, he loves to move passengers to the places they want to go via the Albatross Air Service. Often seen with his purple avaitor’s scarf, leather hood and goggles, he is fast and efficient.

Orville shows himself as being very hardy, surviving a fall into a bayou and even being sucked into a Swamp Mobile jet intake and popping out the other hand.

16. Osmosis Jones (Osmosis Jones)

Inside the body of Frank DeTorre, also known as the City of Frank, an anthropomorphic white blood cell Osmosis Jones is a part of the Frank Police Department.

After being tasked to investigate the rapidly deteriorating city due to DeTorre’s eating habits, he soon realizes it is orders from above, via the mayor, which are causing these issues.

Unfortunately, Osmosis’ impulsive personality often brings him into conflict with those who he needs to work with.

17. Otis Bigelow (The Rocketeer)

An airfield owner, he pressures Cliff Secord and Peevy to pay for damages to a fuel truck caused by an interaction with gangsters.

After the show organized by Bigelow looks to descend into disaster, a flying man with a jetpack saves the day, leading Bigelow to act as if that was part of the show all along.

This fatal mistake draws the attention of both the FBI and the henchman Lothar, with the former finding Bigelow dead in his office.

18. Otto Mann (The Simpsons Movie)

Driving the bus for Springfield Elementary, he’s often seen with his long, permed hair, headphones and pink shirt with purple pants.

Being a metalhead and good friends with Bart, who probably sees him as a bit of a future glimpse of what he himself will end up as, he loves to play guitar and do lots of drugs.

His reputation as a bus driver is not particularly good, and he has been suspended several times.

19. Owl (The Tigger Movie)

Depicted as a real owl rather than a stuffed animal, he is an anthropomorphic owl and is based on the trope of the wise owl. However, his wisdom often seems to be less impressive than originally thought.

Owl loves to tell long stories that bore most of the inhabitants of Hundred Acre Wood, but Christoper Robin and him get along well.

While sometimes very self important, he does use his intelligence to help the other animals.

He often appears with light tan plumage, with brown three-taloned feet

20. Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs (The Wizard of Oz)

The ruler of the Land of Oz, he is visited by Dorothy in order to find out how to get back to Kansas although it turns out that he is a conman and not a wizard at all, relying on machinery to trick the people of Oz.