It's become increasingly important for movies to represent and include people of various skin tones: black, white, brown...and blue? Plenty of movies out there feature blue characters. They may be aliens from another planet, invincible superheroes, or a comedic genie that loves to joke about pop culture. Whatever the case may be, characters colored in blue are often some of the most memorable characters in fantasy movies.
Many of these characters have become iconic and have stolen our hearts, regardless of their funky, blueish hue. Here are ten of the most famous blue characters from the fantasy genre.
10 The Smurfs
Everybody knows the Smurfs, those small, blue, troll-like creatures who love to wear white. But what most people don't know is that The Smurfs started out as a fantasy-comedy Belgian comic book series. Hanna-Barbera adapted it into the popular animated TV show, which ran for eight years in the 1980s. These little blue dudes fell off the radar after that. But in 2011, they made their return with The Smurfs film franchise. It consisted of three films, with the third being a reboot of the first two movies. Another Smurfs movie is slated for release in 2025, an animated musical that sounds like yet another reboot of the franchise. It seems even the Smurfs aren't safe from Hollywood's relentless obsession with reboots.
9 Stitch
Lilo & Stitch is a very different kind of Disney film. It features a unique style of 2D animation and delves into science fiction rather than fantasy. The film follows a chaotic, blue alien named Stitch (Chris Sanders), who has the fortune of crash-landing on one of the nicest places on Earth: Hawaii. There, he befriends a young girl named Lilo (Daveigh Chase), thus beginning their series of misadventures. Lilo & Stitch was a rare success for the post-Disney Renaissance era, which struggled to find a commercial and critical hit. Since their debut in 2002, both Lilo and Stitch have since become Disney icons.
8 Doctor Manhattan
Based on the legendary graphic novel of the same name, Watchmen is a very different kind of superhero film. Its narrative comments on the superhero genre by subverting its cliches and stereotypes, while also embracing them and including many familiar superhero elements. Watchmen presents an alternate history that's very close to our own, a realistic world where superheroes resemble costumed vigilantes rather than super humans. But the world's concept of a superhero changes with the introduction of Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup). He's basically the Superman of Watchmen, except he's blue, omnipotent, immortal, and can alter matter. And he's often naked.
7 Yondu
Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the most popular franchises in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It focuses on a group of criminals-turned-superheroes, a ragtag gang of aliens, one celestial-human hybrid, and one genetically altered raccoon that go around saving the universe. And apparently, they love to interact with blue-skinned people. The franchise's first film, Guardians of the Galaxy, features three, unrelated blue characters. There's Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), who serves as the movie's antagonist, even though he's really just a puppet for Thanos. There's Nebula (Karen Gillan), Thanos' adopted daughter, who eventually changes sides and becomes a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. And then there's Yondu (Michael Rooker), a shady bandit with a lethal whistle, who served as a paternal figure to Chris Pratt's Star-Lord.
The franchise's latest installment, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, just released this summer. It was a commercial and critical success and is the second highest grossing film of 2023 so far. Will there be a fourth film? It's unclear right now. But Vol 3. did seem to hint at numerous spin-offs, including a Star-Lord standalone movie.
6 Sully
Monsters, Inc. is perceived by many as one of Pixar's best animated films. It takes us into the hidden world of monsters, which exists just beyond our closet door. The movie introduces creatures of different shapes, sizes, and colors. One of its main characters and most lovable monsters is Sully (John Goodman), a large beast with an even bigger heart buried underneath all that blue fur. Sully forms one of Pixar's most beautiful relationships with a little girl who's referred to only as Boo. Joined by his green, one-eyed pal Mike (Billy Crystal), Sully ends up discovering that laughter is a lot more valuable than screams.
5 Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic is a blue and superfast hedgehog, as well as the mascot and flagship character for the video game giant Sega. He's basically the equivalent of Super Mario for Nintendo. For years, Sega had been struggling to compete with Nintendo, until the release of their Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. Since the early 90s, Sonic has become one of the most recognizable and popular characters in video games. And in 2020 -- after decades of racing through upside down loops, collecting rings, and battling his arch nemesis Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik -- Sonic was gifted with his own movie franchise.
The Sonic the Hedgehogfilms have been successful with audiences, though it certainly didn't start out that way. Sonic's animators had originally opted for a more realistic portrayal of the famous blue hedgehog. Fans revolted against Sonic's jarring appearance in the movie's original trailer, which has since become known as "Ugly Sonic." Thankfully, producers listened to the outrage and changed gears, shifting to a more faithful and familiar design of the character. There have been two Sonic movies so far, with a third set to release next year.
4 Sadness
Inside Out imagines the inner workings of our minds, which are operated by group of multicolored feelings. One of these feelings is Sadness (Phyllis Smith), who is appropriately colored blue. Sadness mopes her way through the film, serving as a Debbie Downer and bringing the rest of the group down, especially her happy-go-lucky companion Joy (Amy Poehler). It's only in the end, however, that Joy realizes how important Sadness is to the human mind. Inside Out is one of Disney/Pixar's best films. Hopefully, the upcoming sequel doesn't take away from the original's brilliance.
3 Genie
Over the years, there have been many iconic Disney characters. And Genie from the 1992 animated classic Aladdin is one of them. Genie is a blue, all-powerful being, who's a prisoner to the magic lamp and the master who possesses it. In this case, it's an impoverished young man named Aladdin. Genie is a hysterical character, and that's because of the legendary comedian who's behind his blue face: Robin Williams.
The animated world of Aladdin gave Williams the room to stretch his limbs and get as crazy as he wanted to. Throughout the film, Genie makes pop culture references and does celebrity impersonations that no child, or any person in Aladdin's time period for that matter, would ever understand. Before Aladdin, animated characters were performed by voice actors. Today, they're mostly played by celebrities, a trend that began with Robin Williams' casting as Genie. Will Smith played Genie's blue, live-action counterpart in Disney's 2025 adaptation of Aladdin. He did a decent job, but his portrayal doesn't hold a candle to Robin Williams' iconic performance.
2 Mystique
The X-Men film series is a massive franchise that consists of mainline installments, spin-offs, and prequels. These movies bring us into a world where people born with genetic superhuman abilities, also known as mutants, are unjustly seen by the world as threats rather than people, let alone superheroes. The films introduce a large ensemble of mutants with different abilities and appearances -- though genetic mutations do seem to favor the color blue. Mystique (played by Rebecca Romijn in the original films and then by Jennifer Lawrence in the prequel series) is the one we see most, a shape-shifter who appears blue in her natural form. There's also the fan favorite Beast (played by Kelsey Grammer in the original films and then by Nicholas Hoult in the prequel series), whose vast intellect sometimes get overshadowed by his blue, furry, and monstrous appearance. There's also Nightcrawler (played by Alan Cumming in the original films and then by Kodi Smit-McPhee in the prequel series), whose gifted with teleportation but cursed with a blue, demonic appearance. And then there's Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), one of the most powerful mutants in the comics, who turned out to be a bitter disappointment in 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse.
The X-Men are rumored to (finally) make their appearance in Marvel's Cinematic Universe. Until then, the next film set in the X-Men universe is Deadpool 3, which aligns Ryan Reynolds' sarcastic Deadpool with Hugh Jackman's beloved Wolverine. Fanboys are already gushing about the movie, thrilled to finally see Wolverine in his iconic yellow costume.
1 The Na'vi
You knew this one had to make the list. The Avatar franchise takes us to the magical world of Pandora, which is inhabited by enormous, nature-worshiping, blue aliens called Na'vi. Created by acclaimed filmmaker James Cameron, 2009's Avatar combines the tragic story of Native Americans with ground-breaking visual effects to create a sci-fi masterpiece. Adjusted for inflation, Avatar is the second highest-grossing movie of all time behind only Gone With the Wind. Its highly anticipated sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, released last year and was the highest grossing film of 2022. The blue Na'vi are expected to make their return in three more Avatar sequels, with the next one slated for a 2025 release.