TV Tropes: Penelope Trotter

Action Girl: During her adventure, Penelope learns to fight against enemies: the shark, the undead pirates and the Rhino; discover her faith; and stand up to Spiker and Sponge.

Animal Lover: Penelope loves animals, she has a pet goat named Jaelle. She got her beloved pet when she was eight years old from her biological parents for her birthday.

Ambiguously Brown: Penelope has a tan-medium skin tone like most Roma.

Bad Bedroom, Bad Life: After the tragic deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Trotter, James and Penelope were forced to leave their home and move in with James’s abusive aunts, Spiker and Sponge. Both of the adopted siblings were forced to sleep in the cold and bare attic without proper blankets and warmth.

Beauty Equals Goodness: Penelope is a beautiful Romani girl with tan skin, green eyes, and raven black hair. She is kind-hearted, sweet, brave, and loyal.

Beautiful Singing Voice: Being the daughter of Romani performers, Penelope has a beautiful singing voice and plays a guitar that was a gift from her late father. Penelope gives a performance of a song and dance (Rhythm of the Tambourine, Can’t Catch Me Now, and Nothing You Can Take From Me) to James and the Bugs on the Peach. She hopes to someday become a singer and musician.

Beautiful Slave Girl: She was enslaved along with James by his wicked aunts, and Penelope maintains her natural beauty and kindness. Spiker and Sponge resented the young Romani girl’s beauty and talents, and abused her out of jealously as both Sponge and Spiker are horribly ugly and cold-hearted with no problems of destroying Penelope’s guitar in front of her!

Big “NO”!: When she, James, and the bugs are nearing New York City and get confronted by the Rhino, James and Penelope stay behind to fight against the Rhino, and they scream “NO” when they get separated from the bugs. After getting saved by the police and fire department, Spiker and Sponge attempts to drag James, Penelope, and Jaelle with the Peach back to England, finally having had enough of their abuse, Penelope snaps back to them, “Hell, No!”

Big Sister Instinct: After her biological parents died, Penelope becomes an older sister figure to James when Mr. and Mrs. Trotter adopted her. After they died, Penelope does everything in her power to protect James, whom she sees as a best friend.

Broken Bird: When she and James meet the Bugs, she’s hesitant to trust them due to being faced by racism and abuse from Spiker and Sponge. She begins to heal and get better when the bugs help Penelope to overcome her grief and rediscover her faith.

Broken Tears: She would often break down in tears, first is when she loses her adopted parents (James’s parents) to the Rhino; second is when Spiker and Sponge tear up James’s New York travel book and Penelope’s written songs; and the third is when she opens up to the bugs about the cruelty that she endured by society and the Second World War, because back then, the Roma along with Jewish people were persecuted by the Nazis.

Character Development: During her time with the Trotter Family, Penelope was a happy young girl and adored them as her surrogate family. But after Mr. and Mrs. Trotter were eaten by the Rhino, she, along with James and Jaelle were sent to live with Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge who treated the children as slaves and forced them to clean their home, making their lives unhappy and miserable (she becomes timid and soft-spoken). One day, after saving a spider (who happens to be Miss Spider) from getting killed by their Aunts, James and Penelope meet the Magic Man who gives them crocodile tongues and after accidentally spilling them, a peach grows to massive size. After meeting the Giant Bugs, Penelope is reluctant to trust them, fearing that they may treat her horribly, the same way Sponge and Spiker treated her. During the adventure, Penelope lets down her guard and begins to trust the Giant Bugs and she becomes braver and stronger to stand up for herself and James.

Child Prodigy: Despite being 14 years old, Penelope is an excellent performer, singer, dancer, and guitar player although she has few opportunities to perform in front of an audience. She dreams of someday accomplishing her dreams of sharing her musical talents.

Cool Big Sis: She acts as an older sister figure to her young adopted brother, James. They rely on each other to endure the cruelty and abuse from James’s wicked aunts.

Dark and Troubled Past: At age seven, Penelope and her parents fled from France to England to escape from the Nazis. She was at one point separated by her parents in a crowded place and panicked, but Mr. and Mrs. Trotter along with their newborn son, James's parents found Penelope and decided to help her. Thanks to them, they managed to reunite the little girl with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Trotter invited Penelope’s family to move onto their land and stay with them for a while, until they were ready to move, thus they become friends. One day when Penelope was just nine years old, Marko and Rosella went into town for errands and to earn money. But tragedy struck when they were attacked by an Anti-Romani group and were murdered along with a few other Roma. Penelope was incredibly broken-hearted from the loss of her parents. Out of compassion and open-mindedness, Mr. and Mrs. Trotter adopted Penelope and raised her as their daughter; Penelope slowly recovered from her parents’ deaths and grew to love her adopted family. But, four years later when it was James’s seventh birthday, Mr. and Mrs. Trotter were killed and eaten by a demonic Rhinoceros. After facing two tragedies, James, Penelope and Jaelle were forced to move in with James’s abusive aunts, Spiker and Sponge; whom they both treated the children as slaves. Penelope struggled to keep up with her faith and prayers in hopes of becoming free and finding happiness, not for herself, but for James.

Dream Sequence: During one night on the Giant Peach, Penelope begins to sleepwalk in her nightmare and ends up walking outside of the peach and nearly jumps off the fence, but is saved by Dragonfly, thanks to Jaelle waking up the Bugs. In her nightmare, Penelope sees her parents and follows after them to a familiar village and sees them getting murdered by the Anti-Romani group, Spiker and Sponge appear with the Rhino and she is chased off by and she finds her way to the end of a cliff leading to the sea which she falls off. Thankfully, she wakes up in the arms of Dragonfly.

Earn Your Happy Ending: After overcoming all dangers on the journey to New York City and Spiker and Sponge get arrested, Jame and Penelope get Happily Adopted by the Giant Bugs and they start a new and happy life in America.

Friend to All Animals: Penelope adores animals as she loves goats, birds, dogs, and cats. She has a pet goat named Jaelle, who helps her out with her performances.

Friend to All Children: Penelope gets along well with kids and has a soft spot for them, and treats James the same way. She dreams of someday having children of her own.

Friend to Bugs: Along with James, she makes friends with all the Giant Bugs.

Following In Relative’s Footsteps: Penelope’s parents, Marko and Rosella were traveling performers. Marko played music with his guitar and Rosella was a dancer and singer, and they both did fortune telling and palm reading. This inspired Penelope to become a singer and musician, hoping to share her heritage with the world.

Giant Poofy Sleeves: Penelope wears a white shirt with large short puffed sleeves.

Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Despite being a graceful dancer and passionate musician, Penelope loves the color purple. During her adventure, she wears a light lavender bodice, a purple belt, and a dark purple skirt.

Grew a Spine: During her time with the bugs, Penelope learns to be herself and grow into a brave and strong young lady, which gives her the courage to stand up to Spiker and Sponge.

Happily Adopted: By the Bugs. She considers the rest of the Giant Bugs as family, and she looks up to Centipede as a father figure with Miss Spider as a mother figure, Mr. Grasshopper as a grandfather/father figure, Glowworm as a grandmother figure, Mrs. Ladybug as an aunt figure, and Earthworm and Dragonfly as uncle figures.

Hey You!: Spiker and Sponge would never call Penelope by her real name, instead they call her “Gypsy Girl” which in fact, the word ‘gypsy’ is considered a slur.

Hidden Depths: Penelope has the appearance of a soft-spoken and lovely young girl with a timid demeanor, but deep down, she is a broken soul who wishes to have friends, a family, and be accepted by society.

Hot Gypsy Woman: Penelope is a very attractive Romani girl. She does fortune telling and palm reading.

I Just Want to Be Free: After being sent to live at Spiker and Sponge with James and treated as a servant, Penelope feels trapped like a prisoner and yearns leave the hill with James and Jaelle to find freedom.

It Was a Gift: The silver necklace with an amethyst gem that she wears around her neck and a ring in the same colors were her late mother’s. Penelope also has a tambourine and a guitar that were given to her by her late father. When she, James, and Jaelle arrived at Spiker and Sponge’s home, the aunts took away Penelope’s musical instruments and destroyed them! This broke Penelope’s heart when she saw the other items that reminded her of her beloved parents. When she’s on the peach with James, Jaelle, and the bugs, she discovers her beloved guitar and tambourine in the stone repaired as if they had never been broken, (it’s suspected that the Magic Man may have repaired them).

Lady of Adventure: As she grows to living with the Giant Bugs, Penelope becomes more free-spirited and confident as she goes on the adventure to New York City.

Like Brother and Sister: Despite not being related by blood, James and Penelope see each other as surrogate siblings and best friends with love.

Long Hair is Feminine: Penelope has long waist-length black hair and is moderately girly.

Meaningful Name: Penelope in Greek means ‘weaver’, which refers to Queen Penelope, the wife of King Odysseus from Homer’s “The Odyssey”. Her middle name, “Esmeralda” also means emerald which refers to her beautiful green eyes.

Nice Girl: Despite being mistreated by Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker, Penelope remains a kind and sweet girl and does her best to keep James safe.

Not Afraid of You Anymore: She is able to stand up to both the Rhino and James’s aunts at the end of the film.

Performance Anxiety: Penelope has big dreams of performing in front of audiences, and has a tendency to get nervous before she sings. One time, she was about to perform with her parents before a crowd, but forgot her music lyrics and failed her show. But her parents encouraged her to not give up and remind her that not all first times are perfect and she would get better in the future.

Plucky Girl: She becomes this after meeting the Bugs in the peach, she tries to keep an optimistic and practical attitude to help her new friends solve problems on their way to New York City.

Scullery Maid: Spiker and Sponge force Penelope to work as a slave in their own house along with James. Hard labor and abuse gave James and Penelope a despondent outlook of life, making them think that they would never be able to find happiness, accomplish their personal dreams, and a better life.

Silk Hiding Steel: Penelope may look like a harmless and innocent fourteen-year-old, but she hides a knife underneath her skirt that’s wrapped around her calf and only uses it for self-defense.

Shut Up, Hannibal!: After reaching New York City with James and Jaelle, Spiker and Sponge arrive to take them back to England to continue the abuse. Having had enough of their cruelty (thanks to the help from the Magic Man and the Giant Bugs), James and Penelope stand up to Sponge and Spiker, and gives them a piece of their mind. After the events, Penelope later on visits Spiker and Sponge in prison with a peach pie she baked, with a secret ingredient for revenge!

Stage Magician: Being the daughter of Romani Performers, Penelope’s father was a musician and magician and taught Penelope some secret magic tricks to help her disappear and escape.

Super Not-Drowning Skills: When Penelope, James, and Miss Spider dive in the freezing cold Arctic Ocean to rescue Centipede from undead pirates, they can speak, breathe, and fight underwater. (It was probably the crocodile tongues that helped them.)

Toon Transformation: In her story, Penelope (along with James and Jaelle) goes from live-action to stop motion after swallowing a crocodile tongue. She reverts back to live-action after she, James, and Jaelle land on the Empire State Building and coughs out her crocodile tongue.