Rag dolls:
• 9 (Elijah Wood) is the youngest of the group that represents the Scientist's humanity, bigheartedness, thoughtfulness, and sincerity. He is very intelligent, but he can make mistakes due to his curiosity. He seeks the truth in the history of his creation, and wishes to know the meaning of life. He has a strong brotherly bond with 5.
• 8 (Fred Tatasciore) is the brutish ruffian from the Scientist's personality. He wields the one half of a scissor and a knife as his weapons. He is a master of his weapons. He is the largest of the group, but is the least intelligent.
• 7 (Jennifer Connelly) is the fighter part of the Scientist's personality and (possibly) the only female of the group. A rebel and a loner, she is willing to take many risks for the good of her people.
• 6 (Crispin Glover) is the artistic portion of the Scientist's personality. He sees things what the others in the group don't see. 6's fingers are made of ink pen nibs, which he uses to draw.
• 5 (John C. Reilly) is the Healer part of the Scientist's personality. 5 is caring, nurturing, and the loyal, bighearted "common man" who always tries to play the peacemaker.
• 3 and 4 are twins, and the Historians of the group. They are unable to speak, instead using flickering lights in their eyes to communicate with each other and 4 can project images from his/her eyes for the other members of the group. They are very intelligent and energetic.
• 2 (Martin Landau) is the creative portion of the Scientist's personality. He is a kind, delicate old inventor. He is fascinated by garbage and scrap, and loves to explore the wastelands and look for parts for his inventions.
• 1 (Christopher Plummer) is the cowardly, arrogant portion of the Scientist's personality. He is the oldest of the group and the leader, demanding absolute loyalty from the others and frequently clashes with 9, who refuses to follow him.
Machines:
• The Cat Beast is the first machine that 9 encounters, and the main antagonist of the original short film 9. It was the last active machine in the world until the reactivation of the Fabrication Machine. With a gait somewhere between a lion and a monkey, it has spines on its back, a cat skull for a head, a red mechanical eye in its left socket and a light bulb in its right, which it uses to see in the dark. It kidnapped 2, but was destroyed by 7.
• The Fabrication Machine/B.R.A.I.N. (Binary Reactive Artificially Intelligent Neurocircuit) is the machine that built all the machines. It was designed by the Scientist as an A.I. for use by the Chancellor, but the latter enslaved it as the control unit for weapons manufacture, causing it to go rogue and wipe out humanity.
• The Winged Beast is a pterodactyl-like machine constructed by the Fabrication Machine to hunt down the creations. It has knives and scissors for a mouth, four small red eyes around its "head", a tarp or flag for its bat-like wings, and a harpoon on the end of its tail. Several human bones appear to be integrated in its structure. It can fly through a combination of its wings and an electric fan in its body. In battle, it uses the blades on its head, the claws on its wings, or its harpoon tail, which can be fired and retracted at will.
• The Seamstress is a cobra-like robot designed by the Fabrication Machine to capture the Scientist's other creations, it is also its most formidable warrior. Its serpentine body bears numerous spindly metal limbs that end in a variety of claws, scissors, needles and blades. Spools of red thread are attached to its back, and 2's lifeless body is attached to its tail. Its head is a mixture of a skull and a broken doll mask with a requisite red mechanical eye hidden by the black fabric of its body, surrounded by smaller limbs that can spread the fabric to reveal its face. It flashes light through 2's eyes to hypnotize its victims, immobilizes them with its thread, and binds them in its own body to take back to the Fabrication Machine.
9 has played an important part in research. I personally like that all the characters are very similar in the way they appear (all made out of everyday objects and found items such as hessian, buttons, zips, wood, thread and string etc.) yet their personalities are all very different, and that they have been personified compared to the animal-like qualities of the 'machines'.
