Nigel

Rio Angry Birds Nigel Background information Feature films Rio Rio 2 Shorts Novelization Video games Rio Multiplayer Party Game! Angry Birds Rio Rio Video Game (DS Version) Rio: Match 3 Party Voice Jemaine Clement Character information Species Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Gender Male Alias Nigel the Cockatoo Bob the Bird (self-given) Bob (r. by Pedro and Carla) Cannibal (r. by Tipa) Nige (r. by Gabi) Tiger (r. by Gabi) Occupation Feather/Hair/ Skin color Grayish-white body Yellow crest feathers Eyes Brown Friends Marcel Gabi (formerly) Charlie (formerly) Mauro (Angry Birds Rio; formerly in Rio) Enemies Blu Jewel Nico Pedro Rafael Bia Tiago Carla Tulio Linda Big Boss The Angry Birds (Angry Birds Rio) Mauro (Rio) Fate Living Likes Evil Revenge Shakespearean acts Torturing other Macaws Smuggling (to compensate for his loss of being famous) Dislikes "Pretty Birds" Blu Jewel Failure Being defeated Inability to fly Quote "Hello, pretty bird."

[Source]

Nigel is the main antagonist of Rio and one of the two main antagonists of Rio 2 (alongside Big Boss).

He is not a pretty bird, but used to be "quite a looker". Once a popular television star, he was replaced by a young Parakeet from Paraguay named Petricious. Since then, Nigel has had it out for all birds of beauty. Nigel put his jealousy and rage to use in his role as the former "evil henchbird" of Marcel and the smugglers.

Nigel is also the main antagonist in the books of the franchise, and the video games Angry Birds Rio, Rio Multiplayer Party Game!, Rio: The Video Game, and Rio: Match 3 Party.

Bio

Rio

Nigel is first seen as a "patient" at Tulio's aviary. However, his sickness is quickly revealed to be fake; that night, he tricks Sylvio into picking him up by pretending to be injured, then knocks him out with a Chloroform-soaked rag and steals his keys. He then unlocks the door and lets Fernando in, allowing him to steal Blu and Jewel. Fernando brings the captured birds to the smugglers' hideout. When Jewel tries to escape, Nigel pins her down and starts choking her, taunting her by asking, "What's the matter? Cockatoo got your throat?" However, Marcel orders Nigel to bring Jewel back alive, so Nigel returns her to the cage. Blu and Jewel are then locked up along with many other captured exotic birds. Soon after, Nigel is fed chicken meat by Tipa, after he lost a rock-paper-scissors game against Armando, to see who would feed the Cockatoo. At first, Armando wins, but Tipa says that scissors cuts rock, fooling Armando. After finishing his meal, Nigel comes to Blu and Jewel and explains the motivation of his evil nature with the song "Pretty Bird". He was once the star of a popular animal show until he was kicked out and replaced by a Parakeet; now he has a hatred for "pretty birds". He says that he plans on making them "ugly" as well, then he bids the macaws sweet nightmares and flies away, laughing evilly. Later, Nigel hears the macaws trying to escape and tries to stop them. Nigel chases Blu and Jewel into the slums of Rio de Janeiro, nearly recapturing them, but they escape at the last moment, and Nigel collides with an electrical transformer, blacking out the whole city of Rio in the process. After recovering, Nigel heads back to the smugglers' hideout.

Nigel is sent by Marcel to retrieve Blu and Jewel, while Marcel and the other smugglers (Tipa and Armando) plan to use the Carnival parade to hide the smuggling of the birds to get to the nearest airport.

Nigel coerces a horde of mischievous marmosets to help him catch Blu and Jewel. In doing so, he abuses their leader Mauro and threatens to give them "flying lessons" if they do not find them by the end of the day.

The marmosets track Blu and Jewel to the Samba Club where Mauro confronts them, but the birds at the Samba Club defend their friends, and the birds and the marmosets engage in a battle. The marmosets lose the battle and fail to capture Blu and Jewel. Later, Nigel arrives at the place where the battle had been. He finds a green bird named Tiny, interrogates her, and terrorizes her into telling him the whereabouts of the Blue Macaws. Nigel then briefly beats Mauro for his failure, then decides to take matters into his wings and goes after Blu and Jewel himself.

As Jewel is flying through the sky crying (having had a falling out with Blu), Nigel ambushes her, grabbing her by the neck. Jewel breaks free and tries to fight back, but Nigel quickly overpowers and captures her. Then, after briefly mocking her, he flies away with her in his talons, laughing insanely.

Nigel takes Jewel to the Carnival parade in the smugglers' float and uses her as bait to lure in Blu, Rafael, Pedro, and Nico. When they arrive at the parade, he captures Rafael, Nico and Pedro unseen, then, when Blu tries to release Jewel, Nigel ambushes him and locks him in a cage. Nigel then gives Marcel a few of Blu and Jewel's feathers as proof that he has captured them. The captives are then loaded into the smugglers' plane, and the plane takes off.

During the flight, Blu manages to free himself and all the other captive birds. Nigel and Marcel notice this, but Blu blocks the cockpit door with a pile of cages, preventing Nigel and Marcel from coming through. Blu then opens the hatch and lets the birds escape out of the plane. However, as Jewel tries to comfort Blu over his fear of flying, Nigel escapes the cockpit, and the villainous cockatoo attacks Blu, pins him and tries to strangle him. Jewel tries to attack Nigel, but Nigel throws her into the plane's wall, causing a cage to fall on Jewel's wing, injuring it. Nigel gleefully mocks the macaws, but, an angered Blu notices that the fire extinguisher he used to escape his cage is close to them. Blu manages to grab the fire extinguisher, hooks it onto Nigel's leg and releases the pin, setting it off. Nigel is blasted out of the plane and sucked into one of the propellers, shredding off most of his feathers, seemingly killing him and eventually making the plane crash.

Nigel plucked after his accident

However, sometime later, Nigel is revealed to have survived, but has lost most of his feathers and is humiliated by a "photo finish" by Mauro as payback for his abuse against him and his minions earlier.

Rio 2

A few years after the first film, Nigel, who suffered the most undignified of indignities (defeated by what he calls “pretty birds” and losing his feathers in the process), is back. However, he is flightless and wears an Elizabethan vest (which covers up some unsightly marks on his chest) due to his previous accident. Shortly after the plane crash at the end of the first film, he was found by humans, taken into a veterinary surgery and operated on. The head surgeon Dr. Monáe, commented, "He'll live, but he'll never fly again". After that, Nigel began working as a fortune-teller’s assistant at a third-rate street fair in Manaus. He is made to wear an accompanying "fortune-teller's" hat during performances. Nigel is now at the lowest point in his life, and he's not happy about it.

While working at the fair, Nigel meets a small pink poison dart frog called Gabi - who has a crush on him - and a big mute anteater called Charlie, who wears a bowler hat and a bow tie. During a performance, Nigel spots Blu and his family flying overhead. After experiencing flashbacks of the trauma Blu caused him, Nigel snaps, claiming "That blue bird caused my misery"; he becomes enraged, attacks his audience and handler, and forcefully escapes from the fair. Along the way, he liberates Gabi and Charlie from the street fair as well. He quickly enlists them as his minions and together, Nigel, Gabi, and Charlie follow Blu and his family, with Nigel intent on getting revenge on Blu for making him flightless.

His predominant passions are Shakespeare, evil, alliteration, revenge, and attention. For Nigel, revenge is a dish best served cold... and with lots of blue feathers.

Nigel and his two henchmen follow the blue macaws onto the "Céu Azul", a tour boat. Nigel plans to attack them at midnight, while they sleep, "because it's more evil". While Nigel and Charlie sleep, Gabi sings a song about how she loves Nigel, but also about how her venomous skin would kill him if they touch. Nigel wakes up after the song is over, thinking he just had a nightmare. He then decides it's time to attack, and the villainous trio stealthily moves through the ship towards Blu and his family, who have fallen asleep at the top of the boat. Nigel reaches the macaws just as Gabi is about to poison Blu, and stops her, wanting Blu for himself. Nigel approaches Blu, raising his talons and preparing to kill him. However, before Nigel can strike, Charlie (who had been distracted by some ants in a bottle) accidentally sets off the ship's horn, waking everyone up. Nigel, Gabi, and Charlie are driven off the ship by the humans before Blu and his family can catch even one tiny look at them. After this, Nigel follows Blu and his family to the Amazon Rainforest, still determined to have his revenge. Forcing Charlie to carry him up a tree, Nigel spots the Spix's Macaw Tribe, and declares it an "infestation". 

The next day, Nigel is still searching for his enemies. While hiding in the bushes, he sees "Blu" nearby. Charlie then catapults Nigel towards the blue macaw with his tongue, and Nigel attacks the macaw and pins him, picking up a leaf-based "disguise" along the way. However, the macaw is not Blu and Nigel has landed at the place where the "Amazon Untamed" auditions are overseen by Nico, Pedro, and Rafael. Nigel becomes interested in the idea of being a "star" again and participates in the auditions. When Rafael notices that Nigel looks familiar, Nigel goes under the name of "Bob the bird" to avoid suspicion. Nigel comes up with an act, on the fly, which sparks his inner artist, and he wins the audition.

After learning that everyone will be at the new show, Nigel decides to use his newfound attention to his advantage and plots to kill Blu with a poisoned dart, using a porcupine quill as a dart, Gabi's venom for poison, and Charlie's long snout to fire the dart. However, as they prepare, he gets a little too into his act, walking right by Blu without even acknowledging him (despite Gabi's alerts), all the while demanding glitter for his performance.

Nigel's performance is canceled as the loggers attack the jungle and a battle ensues between the loggers and the jungle animals. Nigel and Gabi head towards the battle, Nigel riding on Charlie's back and Gabi on the anteater's hat. When they arrive, Nigel spots Blu at the battle. The cockatoo orders Charlie to fire the poisoned dart at Blu, but the dart misses and rebounds towards Nigel, but he dodges it just in time. When Blu removes some lit TNT from a site of designated trees to be demolished, Nigel prevents Big Boss from stopping him, wanting Blu for himself. As Blu flies the TNT upwards into the air, Nigel grabs on and tugs at the ropes, dragging himself towards his nemesis. Nigel jumps on Blu, and as they are falling, Nigel reveals himself to Blu just as the TNT blows up.

However, both Blu and Nigel survive the explosion and end up tangled in vines, upside down and unconscious. When they both regain consciousnesses, Nigel attacks Blu and they have a feather fight. Gabi and Charlie try to help Nigel by shooting Blu with another poisoned dart, but it accidentally hits Nigel. Nigel, thinking he is about to die, gives an Elizabethan death speech as many birds arrive, then seemingly dies and falls off a branch to the ground below. Gabi, thinking that she killed Nigel and unwilling to live without him, drinks a drop of her poison and seemingly dies. However, Blu's daughter Bia points out that Gabi is not poisonous at all. Both Nigel and Gabi are still alive, proving Bia right (Gabi was lied to by her parents that she was poisonous). Nigel, still vengeful, tries to attack Blu and his family one last time, but Gabi drags Nigel away and showers him with affection against his will.

Nigel and Gabi are later found by Tulio and Linda, and they are put in a cage and taken back to Rio to be observed, as Tulio and Linda believe they have "bonded". It is unknown what happens to Nigel after this.

Rio: Snakes Alive!

After losing most of his feathers and the power of flight, Nigel has been reduced to dancing in the streets of Rio for scraps of food. When he overhears two Hollywood producers talk about they would like to bring him back, Nigel pulls one of his trademark moves. Unfortunately, neither one of them recognize Nigel due to his feather loss and laugh at him. Nigel steals a woman's feather boa and glues the feathers to him, again trying to catch the producers' eyes. They are scared of him and chase him away. Nigel overhears Blu and Jewel talking about a magical elixir that could supposedly restore his feathers and decides to follow them.

Though they beat him to the cave containing the elixir, Nigel manages to distract Blu and Jewel by sending a swarm of angry bats against them, resulting in a cave-in that traps the two blue macaws. Nigel is then knocked into the elixir by one of the bats. The elixir doesn't work, but Nigel deludes himself into thinking that it did. Bia, Carla, and Tiago then arrive and Nigel teases them with their parents' fate.

When Ssssalbatore is released, Nigel ends up getting knocked down the mountain by him. Nigel finds himself back in Rio, but his attempts to get attention are curtailed when Ssssalbatore (with Blu hanging on) knocks him down. Nigel finds the producers, and they do show interest in him - but only to capture him and show him off as a "freak". Nigel runs away from them, insisting that he is a "pretty bird".

Personality

As the main antagonist of the Rio franchise, Nigel exhibited highly anti-social behavior.

He is very violent, constantly seen using physical force to injure or terrorize other characters. For instance, he threatened to give Mauro and his subordinates "flying lessons" to coerce the marmosets into helping him find Blu and Jewel. After the battle in the Samba Club, Nigel arrived at the scene and terrorized Tiny into telling him where the blue macaws went, by threatening to "pop" or "crack" her head. He has also pinned various characters, including Blu and Jewel. At the end of the first film, he pinned down Blu. Jewel told him to let him go but instead, Nigel shoved Jewel over and a cage landed on her wing. Nigel said "Oh pity, now we have two useless flightless birds" and laughed.

Nigel also used to capture birds for smugglers, once he strangled Jewel and Marcel told him to bring her back alive. He also tried to capture Blu and Jewel after their escape, he succeeded the first time but then Blu sent him out to the plane's propellers, which probably explains why he wants so much his revenge on Blu.

Nigel pinning and strangling Jewel

He is also extremely sadistic, often taking great joy and pleasure in others' suffering. For example, he was shown in the smugglers' hideout terrorizing the captured birds, and he later ridiculed Jewel when her wing was injured. In both situations, he laughed maniacally in response to seeing his victims' fear and injury.

Nigel is utterly ruthless; he shows no pity or mercy to his victims and enemies and seems to hold no remorse for his evil deeds.

His two most prominent passions are performing and being a villain. He also has a funny, though a malicious, sense of humor. 

Nigel is also intelligent, vindictive, cunning, cruel, malevolent, arrogant, and greedy.

Appearance

Nigel has a slender, muscular appearance and is very tall, taller than Blu and Jewel. He has patchy, ragged grayish-white feathers, brown eyes, and pale red bags under his eyes, which are somewhat bloodshot. He also has unusually long and sharp talons for a cockatoo, and his feathers often molt. Like other Sulphur-crested cockatoos, Nigel has white and yellow crest feathers on the top of his head.

In Rio 2, Nigel wears a bird-sized Elizabethan vest. He also now has a large bald patch on his chest, which is concealed by the Elizabethan vest, presumably severely injured from his encounter with the plane's propeller from Rio.

Abilities

Nigel is noticeably stronger than most other bird characters in terms of physical strength, considering both his size and sharp talons. He knows his physical advantage and uses this to his ends throughout the franchise.

Apart from physical superiority, Nigel is also more devious than average birds, enabling him to sometimes outwit even humans. For example, he used a cloth soaked with Chloroform to disable Sylvio at Tulio's aviary in an attempt to capture Blu and Jewel.

His intelligence is very high; he is smarter than the smugglers and most other characters. His intelligence is only challenged by his nemesis, Blu.

He is also a skilled trickster, being able to fool Tulio and his employees into thinking he was sick and injured.

Nigel also has incredible singing and acting skills, shown in his songs "Pretty Bird" and "I Will Survive". He got these talents during his past role as a TV star.

Nigel's level of speed is incredible for a cockatoo; almost like that of a bird of prey. His flying skills were great in the first movie, but after his accident, his flight abilities have been crippled, leaving him unable to lift himself more than a couple of inches off the ground. Despite this, he is still quite swift.

Nigel also has endurance, shown to be high enough to survive an extreme electric shock. His endurance was also high enough to survive a plane crash, though he lost most of his feathers and was forever crippled from a natural flight. He also survived an explosion with only minor burns.

Relationships

Marcel

Marcel was Nigel's owner. Marcel seems to be the only character toward whom Nigel has shown signs of affection. He shows some degree of loyalty towards Marcel, serving him as his pet and enforcer, and classifies himself as Marcel's "evil henchbird". While Nigel responded to Tipa's praise in a hostile manner, he seemed to accept Marcel's praise quite readily. Marcel is often seen petting Nigel and treats him like a completely competent second-in-command. However, Marcel didn't seem to be particularly concerned when Nigel was blasted out of the plane, probably because he didn't care about birds in the first place. Nigel also makes no mention of his former owner in the second film.

Blu

Blu is Nigel's arch-nemesis. The cockatoo's first encounter with Blu was at Tulio's aviary, during which time Nigel pretended to be a "sick bird". Nigel responded to Blu's "Get well soon" with a sinister glare, which made Blu cringe. Afterward, at the smugglers' hideout, Nigel tried to terrorize Blu, just like what he did to many other birds. Since then, Nigel developed a rivalry with Blu and acted in a hostile manner towards him throughout the movie, constantly attempting to terrorize, humiliate, or injure Blu, who often referred to Nigel as "scary, but not cool".

Since Blu defeated Nigel in the first film, his hatred of Blu grew stronger in the second film, and he held a powerful grudge against him. So when Nigel sees Blu and his family nearby, he immediately desires vengeance and follows them, planning to kill Blu once and for all, but fails.

Though Blu and Nigel are completely different in personality, they have certain things in common; both were pets, both are unusually intelligent by bird standards, and both like to live like humans.

Jewel

Jewel and Nigel are mortal enemies and despise each other, making her another one of Nigel's arch-nemesis. Jewel first encountered Nigel when she tried to escape from the smugglers' hideout, but she was soon overpowered by Nigel due to the cockatoo's physical prowess. Nigel often called her "Pretty Bird" and constantly tried to terrorize or humiliate her. However, despite Nigel's constant attempts to terrorize Jewel (just like he did with many other characters), she was not afraid of him. On several occasions, Jewel tried to fight Nigel but was defeated by him. For example, after Blu and Jewel's fight, Jewel came across Nigel and said, "Oh, yeah, I was on my way to claw your eyes out!" but fails and is captured. Nigel also injured Jewel's wing in the first film. Then Nigel said, "Oh pity, now we have two useless flightless birds!"

Armando and Tipa

The two subordinates of Marcel seem to be afraid of Nigel. The two were very reluctant to feed the latter, and they were constantly humiliated or threatened by the cockatoo.

Nico and Pedro

Nico and Pedro seem to be scared of Nigel, and couldn't be paid money to tamper with his temper. However, Nigel wasn't seen directly interacting with Nico or Pedro in the movie. During the Carnival parade, Nigel captures Nico, Pedro, and Rafael and locks them up in a cage, but it is not seen in the film how he managed to do so. It is revealed later when Nigel locks up Blu, he stands up to Nigel by saying, "Oh come on, you think I came alone? I've got three of the meanest, roughest, craziest birds in all of Rio right behind me!" and then his attention is turned towards Nico, Pedro, and Rafael by Pedro celebrating, thinking they were saved, but Nico mournfully says, "I think he means us". Nigel doesn't seem to acknowledge very much, barely even looking in their direction.

In the sequel, he auditions for them under the pseudonym "Bob the bird", with neither of them recognizing him (but Rafael, their partner says "you look familiar"). They show surprise when his true identity is revealed.

Rafael

In the first film, Rafael is never seen directly interacting with Nigel. Although, Rafael, Nico, and Pedro were overpowered and captured by Nigel off-screen before Blu had tried to free Jewel from her cage inside the smugglers' parade float.

In the second film, when Nigel enters Nico and Pedro's talent show auditions, Rafael is the only one to see that the disguised Nigel looks familiar. When Nigel is unmasked, Rafael comments, "I told you I knew him from somewhere" in a somewhat annoyed tone.

Gabi

Gabi is Nigel's sidekick and "evil henchfrog". Gabi is incredibly loyal to Nigel and is deeply in love with him. However, Nigel disregards Gabi's affection for him, seeing her mostly as a lackey, and a means to get his revenge on Blu. Despite this, he seems to treat her a bit better then he treats Charlie. Gabi was afraid to get close to Nigel because of her poison because she loved him and wanted him alive. At the end of the movie, Gabi found out she was not poisonous after all and was happy she could be able to have affection for the cockatoo. After that, Nigel felt worse about Gabi because frog-bird relationships are not natural (as he said in the film).

Charlie

Charlie is Nigel's steed and "silent muscle". Despite the anteater's loyalty to him, Nigel treats Charlie as a mere minion, and often rides on his back like a horse, making Charlie carry him everywhere. In the end, Charlie stopped working for Nigel, because he wasn't evil after all, he just stayed so he would not get attacked from Nigel.

The Flock

Nigel captured the Angry Birds, but not before they could break out. In the boss fight against Nigel in Jungle Escape, very few birds (most of the time, except the Matilda) could defeat him (they could just add red spots). In the later boss in Smuggler's Plane, even (rarely) the Bomb could defeat him but the Terence could (most of the time) defeat him, and blast Nigel out of the plane and into the propeller blade.

Skills

• Flying
  • Only in Rio. In the first film, he has an incredible flying speed.
• Singing
  • Nigel sings "Pretty Bird" in the first film and "I Will Survive" in the second.
• Dancing (in both films)
• Hunting
  • It is seen in both films that he tries to hunt down Blu and Jewel.
• Cunning
  • Nigel is very sly and plans out for revenge.
• Playing Sick
  • The way he lured Fernando in the aviary to take Blu and Jewel.
• Riding an anteater
  • In Rio 2, he is seen riding Charlie on his back.
• Speed
  • Nigel is shown to have incredible flying and running speed throughout the franchise.
• Endurance
  • Nigel has considerably high endurance, notably surviving a plane crash (albeit at the cost of losing the ability to fly), an explosion, and being electrocuted.
• Physical Strength
  • Nigel is noticeably stronger than most other bird characters in terms of physical strength, considering both his size and sharp talons.
• Torture and Fear
  • Nigel liked to torture the birds he captured and bring fear into their minds.
• Skilled Trickster
  • He was able to fool Tulio and his employees at the aviary.

• Locks
  • He can lock padlocks and he can also lock birds with a cage lock.

Trivia

• Nigel is the overall main antagonist of the Rio franchise on account of being Blu's archenemy. In Rio 2, even though Big Boss was the bigger threat (since he planned to destroy the entire rainforest), Nigel served as The Heavy because his quest for revenge on Blu drove the plot, which means they are just as evil.
• When Nigel sees Blu in Rio 2, he makes the same reaction that Scrat did in Ice Age: The Meltdown when a piranha took his acorn.
• Nigel is often thought to be the secondary antagonist of Rio, with Marcel being the main antagonist. This is not true since one could argue that, while Marcel is his owner and "master". Besides, Nigel puts the plot of the first film in motion by making monkeys work for him.
• His career ended probably somewhere between 1982 and 1983.
• His full name is Cocks "Nigel" Cockatoo. It should be noted that "Cock" means a rooster, or male chicken, and has nothing to do with a cockatoo.
  • However, Cock is the first four letters of cockatoo, which might have got his name.
• Although people think Sulfur-crested Cockatoo's diet consists almost entirely of insects or plants, Nigel was seen eating a chicken leg in the film, showing that birds are also omnivores (but in real life, a cockatoo would get sick for eating an entire chicken leg, so it should be given in moderation). It is mistakenly said by Tipa to be cannibalism; (though Tipa himself is not very intelligent), but it isn't because cannibalism is defined as eating flesh from the same species (which was a chicken and not a cockatoo). Despite this, it still rather unusual for a cockatoo to be fed chicken from most owners (but on the occasion, they need a little protein).
• When Nigel was a television star, he starred in TV shows called Fly Hard, All My Flock, and As the Cage Turns, and participated in the Carnival parade. He was also once popular all across South America.
• The extended version of the song "Pretty Bird" mentions that when Nigel was pushed out of fame, he was replaced by a Parakeet from Paraguay called Petricious. This is the reason he was drawn to criminal activities. However, in both the long version and the shortened version, it also mentions that "they got a pretty parakeet to fill [his] shoes."
• He is the only bird to be plucked of nearly all his feathers.
  • However, in the second film, he grows back most of his wing feathers but he is inable to fly.
• Like Blu, Nigel was a pet and unable to fly. However, although he was a pet like Blu, he was trained to do a certain task (smuggling birds) unlike Blu. Blu just does his daily routine (before he moved to Rio) and helps Linda with other tasks at their library.
• Surprisingly enough, he is somehow damaged by the Mighty Eagle's earthquake in Angry Birds Rio, which is unusual being that he is never even close to the ground in levels when you fight him.
• Nigel is without a doubt, one of the evilest Blue Sky Studios villains ever.
• Nigel was the only character who pretended to be sick just to fool his enemies.
• He likes to torture or terrorize exotic birds (mainly Macaws and Parakeets).
• He is also the only villain to be a bird.
• A Tree Frog named Gabi is in love with Nigel in Rio 2.
  • But Nigel thinks it's not natraul for frogs to be in love with birds.
• For Rio, in the McDonalds Happy Meals toy, there was a toy of him with keys in one of his wings.
• In Rio 2, Nigel wears a bird-sized vest to hide a large patch of missing feathers on his chest.
• When Nigel grabs a bird, he tends to grasp his talons around its neck, as he did when he captured Jewel and tried to kill Blu on the smugglers' plane in Rio.
• According to Blue Sky Studio's Q&A on Twitter, Nigel was originally going to be in a circus in Rio 2, and his minions included a jaguar and an ostrich, along with Gabi and Charlie.
• According to Carlos Saldanha in an interview, Nigel is his favorite character.
• In the early design stages of Rio, Nigel had a metal claw on his left talon.
• Nigel has three different names in the international versions of the films in the Rio franchise. The names are "Pepillo" (Latin America), "Hector" (France), and "Miguel" (Italy).
  • Miguel Ferrer was also the first name of the voice in Big Boss.
• Nigel mocked Blu for being a "useless flightless bird". And near the end of Rio, he calls Jewel and Blu "Two useless flightless birds". Ironically, at the end of the first film, he became a "useless flightless bird" himself.
• Also, when Blu and Jewel were introduced to a group of toucan kids, one of them rips out Blu's feathers. This foreshadows Nigel's fate at the end of the first film.

Quotes

Rio

• "Hello, pretty bird."
• "What's the matter? Cockatoo got your throat?"
• "To be continued."
• "Something seems to be lodged in my beak. Would you mind?
• "I know I'm not a pretty birdie, But I used to be quite a looker. A star."
• "Lights, camera, action."
• "(Whispering) It was him."
• "Shut up now. Shut up! ...It's just me."
• "I will make you ugly... too."
• "Sweet nightmares!"
• "Get out of here, you putrid poultry!"
• "Hello, boys. Seems like you've had a busy day."
• "I'm not interested in your nicked knick-knacks, Your burgled baubles bore me."
• "There are two blue macaws out there."
• "I need your multitude of eyes to help me find them."
• "Well, that's a fair question."
• "Let's discuss it."
• "I certainly see your point. But what could I possibly do in return?"
• "Oh. Well, that's a thought, yeah. But is it enough? I don't want to feel like I'm cheating you."
• "All right. You've twisted my wing. Deal."
• "Now then, anymore questions?"
• "No... good."
• "You will spread out and you will find these macaws by the end of the day. Or it's flying lessons for everyone!"
• "Go! Go do your monkey business."
• "What happened?"
• "WHAT HAPPENED?"
• "Don't be chirping and talk to me."
• "When I bite down on your head, will it go 'pop,' or will it go 'crack'?"
• "Where are the cerulean birds?"
• "That means 'blue,' by the way."
• "Anything else?"
• "Did they? Liar."
• "Never send a monkey to do a bird's job."
• "Going somewhere, pretty bird?"
• "Temper, temper."
• "Now come along, my dear. We're going to a parade. And everybody... loves... a parade."
• "One down, and one to go."
• "Oh, I don't need to find him. He'll find you."
• "So kind of you to join our little soirée."
• "Ah, love, it's such a powerful and... stupid thing."
• "Oh, pity. Now we have two useless, flightless birds."

Rio: The Junior Novel

• "That's the funny thing about beauty."
• "It's nearly impossible to make something ugly beautiful."
• "But you can take a beautiful thing and make it ugly just like that."
• "What happened here?"
• "Where are the blue birds? The ones with the chain."

Rio 2

• "To be, or not to be?"
• "That blue bird caused my misery."
• "The croaking cockatoo doth bellow for revenge!"
• "That's Shakespeare, by the way."
• "Fair point."
• "We aren't here to snack!"
• "We're here to avenge!"
• "Once these pesty passengers fall asleep, we'll show our blue friends some love."
• "Some poisonous love."
• "We attack at midnight hour...Cause it's more evil."
• "Stay alert."
• "What a nightmare."
• "Charlie, you were supposed to wake me!"
• "Be quiet!"
• "Stop! That one is mine."
• "Twinkle twinkle little Blu, how I wondered where were you?"
• "Up above the world, so high - are you ready to die?"
• "Even in sleep you mock me!"
• "They're getting away!"
• "Wake up you insect-eating idiot!"
• "Follow them!"
• "Better, now go ten times faster."
• "Ugh, river hogs!"
• "I can see why they call you 'Gabi' (gabby)."
• "Were are you, you filthy fowl?"
• "Halt!"
• "I've been going about this all wrong."
• "I need to search from higher ground."
• "What are you looking at? Get me up there!"
• "Higher! Higher...even higher!"
• "A little bit higher, er, lower, lower now."
• "Yes, perfect."
• "Ugh. It's an infestation."
• "Keep celebrating. I'll be pooping on your party promptly."
• "Prepare the tounge-a-pult!"
• "Charlie, make me fly again!"
• "Audition?"
• "I am, er... Bob. Yes. Bob - the bird."
• "It's the perfect plan."
• "Be happy we're only plucking you Porcupine!"
• "Instead of chasing that bird all over the jungle."
• "We let him come to us, at the Carnaval show."
• "I'll mesmerize them from the stage."
• "And you, my little Gabi."
• "You will be my petite weapon of mass destruction."
• "It will be a performance to die for."
• "It only works when I do it."
• "Charlie, prepare the nose-zooka!"
• "Foiled again!"
• "Déjà vu, Blu."
• "You!"
• "You will pay a painful price for your pestilence!"
• "No, I just want to."
• "Furious feathers in your face!"
• "Is this the end?"
• "I was too young, too beautiful, to live."
• "We're not dead?"
• "I'm sorry! I'll be nicer! No! No!"
• "A star, reborn!"
• "There he is!"
• "My audience awaits."

Rio 2: The Junior Novel

• "The bluebirds of my misery.
• "It's absolutely heartbreaking to see brilliant choreography being butchered."
• "Excuse me."
• "Glitter, where is my glitter?"
• "Glitter is the absolute essential for a magical performance."
• "It's spin, right, grapevine left, and then, with you stage left."
• "If we want this plan to work, you have to be perfect!"
• "I will do my flourish-ta da!"
• "Gabi, that will be the cue for you to do the deadly deed."
• "Do you know nothing?"
• "How's it dangling?"
• "Not too worry Blu."
• "I'll soon relieve you of your domestic duties."
• "Carla, my dear."
• "I've got news for you."
• "I'm not Bob!"
• "Wait! An audience at last!"
• "Never hath a cockatoo endured such pain at the hands of so wretched a blue macaw!"
• "Alas, poor Blu. I knew him well."
• "My ashes, as the phoenix, have brought forth a bird that will revenge upon you all!"
• "Hard to speak."
• "Is this the end so soon."
• "I was too young, too talented, too beautiful to live."
• "What?"
• "Wait, Come back!"
• "You'll pay for this, Blu!"

Rio: Snakes Alive!

• "Oh the Indignity! Reduced to performing for crumbs."
• "My fame long gone, even my plumage but a memory!"
• "If only I could flambe the miserable Macaw that did this to me... that... Blu!"
• "Mmm pao queij!"
• "Fans!"
• "They want to bring me back?"
• "I'll show them I've still got it."
• "This routine always left them in tears."
• "Not a dry eye in the house."
• "I'm doomed, doomed to fret and strut without even a stage!"
• "Still...with a strict diet, a healthy regimen."
• "I could re-grow my feathers."
• "But who am I kidding? That's far too hard."
• "There must be a simpler way!"
• "Unless...there may be a faster way to restore my lost luster."
• "That feather boa!"
• "Soon everyone will know me again! Everyone!"
• "This time I'll make sure they never forget!"
• "While some plan to help others, others plan to help themselves!"
• "After all those years of indulging in wickedness."
• "Now one lucky break can put me back on top again!"
• "I must ask was all that evil worth-while?"
• "Perhaps, when once again adored by millions."
• "I'll look upon those less fortunate with kindness."
• "Or, maybe... not!"
• "I can feel myself changing."
• "My Sulfur-crested beauty returning!"
• "I've done it! I am again at last...a pretty bird!"
• "That could have gone better."
• "An elixir that restores feathers? My fortune continues!"
• "I'll follow the foul fowls in secret."
• "Based on what I just overheard."
• "When the time's right, I'll get new feathers and revenge!"
• "A lack of feathers may prevent flying."
• "But my brilliant mind can uncover far more comfortable alternatives!"
• "What are you looking at?"
• "I've had bigger worms for lunch."
• "Don't...look...down."
• "So it works? How does he know?"
• "If only my eyes would adjust to the dark faster!"
• "It does work, they must have tried it."
• "Now those little blue simpletons could fill a pillow all by themselves."
• "They'll be blue in more ways in one when I'm through with them."
• "Best take a moment to plan."
• "How do I distract them and get the elixir for myself?"
• "Think, Nigel think! All I need is an idea."
• "Here's an idea now! How nice!"
• "These batty bats already have something against my foes."
• "All I have to do is steer them in the right direction!"
• "As a matter of fact I have!"
• "There were two--terribly rude, horrid creatures, the kind who'd take advantage of any bat!"
• "Really? I'm diurnal myself...no, it just means I see better in the day."
• "Lucky for you, the beastly birds are in there, a lovely dark cave!"
• "Not quite. That's a wall. Just a wee bit to the left."
• "Is there nothing more touching than a family that helps one another no matter what? Or more useful?"
• "Ha-Ha The elixir is mine!"
• "Oh, the indignity! Or, to put it another way...YIKES!"
• "wait...I remember...the cave-in...the elixir...it worked!"
• "Stand back rainbows! Out the way sunsets! Bow your head in shame starry nights! Nigel is back!"
• "The elixir is all gone, but who cares? It served its purpose!"
• "With those wretched birds out of the way, nothing can stop me!"
• "Oh brother, what's this now?"
• "Your parents? Ah yes, oh...well, unfortunately...they were trapped in a cave-in!"
• "No! Not my feathers! Don't hurt my beautiful feathers!"
• "Me first!"
• "Well, that worked out nicely!"
• "Now, with my feathers doubtless more lovely than ever, with my talent clearly at its peak."
• "I go to reclaim my career!"
• "I'll show them what I've got! I'll show the entire city!"
• "A little of this...a bit of that...of course a dash of this...and they'll be eating out of my wings for a change!"
• "Step, step, turn."
• "Where's everyone going?"
• "They'll miss my big finish! It's a killer!"
• "My undoing is Blu's doing--again!"
• "Am I never to be free of that meddlesome macaw?"
• "The fires! I mustn't let a single spark near my fine feathers!"
• "As a star, I appreciate a follower as much as the next fellow, but this is absurd!"
• "Now I just have to find those two rich and discerning fans who will relaunch my career!"
• "To quote the great Edmund Kean, dying is easy, comedy is hard!"
• "Well, then! It seems my talent has not gone unappreciated!"
• "Eh?"
• "No! Stop! Please! I am a pretty bird! A pretty bird!"

Gallery

Main article: Nigel/Gallery