Miguel The Road to El Dorado

A small-time Spanish conman, and half of a dynamic duo with Miguel. Usually the brains of the pair, planning the cons and coming up with clever plans to come out on top, usually through trickery. He is generally not a fan of Miguel's ideas, but will usually follow through with his hunches anyway. After stumbling upon El Dorado, he and Miguel stage a con to pose as local gods and run back to Spain with the resulting gold tributes.


  • Brainy Brunette: Has flowing dark hair, and is the schemer of the dynamic duo, coming up with all of the cons and daring plans, even if they don't always work...
  • Brief Accent Imitation: Tulio briefly imitates Miguel's British accent at the end.

    Tulio: You had to be all 'Oh, look at me, look at me, I'm a god.'

  • Card Sharp: Or more specifically Dice Sharp; their source of income is pretty much Tulio's trusty loaded dice. It is mentioned in the novelisation that his preferred targets were the wealthy and corrupt.
  • Con Man: Both of the protagonists.
  • The Chew Toy: Though mostly during the "Trail We Blaze" sequence.
  • Dashing Hispanic: Okay, maybe dashing is pushing it, and he does forego the accent that usually garnishes this trope, but he is, in essence, a good-looking, adventurous Spaniard with a flare for the dramatic and the attitude to boot.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Practically every other sentence out of his mouth (aside from his instances of gloating, of course) is a dry quip.
  • Death Glare: Tulio gives several of these to Miguel for digging them deeper into trouble.
  • Everyone Has Standards: He’s a con man that will swindle anyone out of their money and gold but he instantly draws the line at a man being sacrificed as tribute.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Miguel.
  • Innocently Insensitive: When he tells Chel that he wants to leave for Spain with her, he says "forget Miguel" to convey that this is something that he personally wants. Unfortunately, Miguel is around to overhear this and interprets it to mean that Tulio is planning to abandon him in favor of Chel, which contributes to them later having a temporary falling out.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tulio is more of a jerk than Miguel, but they both end up saving the city from Cortés and Tzekel-Kan.
  • Meaningful Name: Tulio means "That who leads".
  • Not in the Face!: Tulio while Flynning.

    Tulio: (whispers) Not the face, not the face...

  • Official Couple: With Chel.
  • Perma-Stubble: The entire lower half of his face is permanently covered in five o'clock shadow, except for a thin strip of beard from his lower lip to his chin.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Tulio's Blue Oni and Miguel's Red Oni
  • Screams Like a Little Girl: Miguel and Tulio - they used to provide the page image. But, of course, you'd probably react the same way to a giant green stone jaguar breaking out of a temple.
  • Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Both Tulio and Miguel prove to care more for people than cold metal. Even if they scammed the whole city with their God Guise, leaving it for Cortés to plunder is beyond them.
  • The Smart Guy: Between the two he is definitely the more level-headed and the schemer, which often means that it is his head that suffers from Miguel's impulsive and poorly thought actions.
  • Those Two Guys: The entire idea behind the film was to take Those Two Guys and make them into main characters instead of putting them in their normal sidekick role.
  • Vagabond Buddies: With Miguel.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Tulio and Miguel are each quite critical of the other.

    Miguel 

Miguel The Road to El Dorado

Voiced by: Kenneth Branagh (film), David Gasman (video game)

The other half of the dynamic duo, the first being Tulio. Miguel, though not exactly a saint, is the more idealistic of the two, and follows Tulio through thick and thin (usually thick) despite the questionable methods. He does have a softer heart than Tulio, and as such, he is much more likely to be seen as sympathetic to the general public. After he and Tulio are mistaken for gods, he follows through with a plan to play along and then run away with the gold, but he does seem to enjoy the life in the city as well...


  • Big Damn Heroes: When it seems like Tulio and Chel's ship won't make it past the falling pillar, Miguel rides Altivo towards the ship to give him the impulse he needs to jump and pull the sail down so the ship can go faster and avoid certain death.
  • Buffy Speak:
    • When trying to explain why the boat is unacceptable.

      Miguel: I have been around boats, believe me. And that, um... pointy tall... the-the-the long up and- up and down thing...
      Chief: The mast?

    • Also when trying to get Altivo to find them a pry-bar.

      Miguel: All you have to do is find a pry-bar! A long piece of iron with a hooky-thing at the end!

  • Comically Missing the Point: Cortés goes into a detailed explanation of exactly how Miguel and Tulio will be punished, culminating in their being sold into slavery when they arrive in Cuba. Miguel's response?

    Miguel: All right! Cuba!

  • Con Man: Both of the protagonists.
  • Dashing Hispanic: Much like Tulio, he's an attractive, daring Spaniard that's fond of putting up a show. Only thing he's missing is the Hispanic accent, which is instead replaced with a rather obvious British one. To be fair, it's amusing enough to be forgiven.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Maybe not to the same extent as Tulio, but he has let slip a wisecrack or two.
  • Death Glare: Miguel gives a truly awesome one after his Shut Up, Hannibal! speech.
  • Dumb Blonde: Ok, he's not that stupid, but he can be a bit ditzy sometimes, specially when playing off the far more serious and cunning Tulio.
  • Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Has long, blond hair, and comes across as far more compassionate and naïve than Tulio.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Tulio.
  • I Choose to Stay: Subverted. He initially decides to stay in El Dorado, but when he realizes Tulio's ship won't make it past the falling towers, he races to help his friend out even if it means leaving El Dorado behind forever.
  • Ink-Suit Actor: He has been noted by some to bear a slight resemblance
    Miguel The Road to El Dorado
    ◊ to his voice actor, Kenneth Branagh.
  • Keet: Miguel is toeing the line here.
  • Lovable Rogue: Miguel is the closest, stealing and lying most of the time but never being malicious about it, and he outright defends strangers without asking for anything in return.
  • Meaningful Name: Miguel means "Who is like God?".
  • Messianic Archetype: Has long hair, a beard, is compassionate, is regarded as being a god despite being mortal and calls out a corrupt religious figurehead.
  • Puppy-Dog Eyes: Miguel uses this on Tulio, who calls it "The Face", to gamble for the map. It is very effective; Tulio just can't say no...for long.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Tulio's Blue Oni and Miguel's Red Oni
  • Screams Like a Little Girl: Miguel and Tulio - they used to provide the page image. But, of course, you'd probably react the same way to a giant green stone jaguar breaking out of a temple.
  • Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Both Tulio and Miguel prove to care more for people than cold metal. Even if they scammed the whole city with their God Guise, leaving it for Cortés to plunder is beyond them.
  • Those Two Guys: The entire idea behind the film was to take Those Two Guys and make them into main characters instead of putting them in their normal sidekick role.
  • Vagabond Buddies: With Tulio.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Tulio and Miguel are each quite critical of the other.
  • You Fight Like a Cow: During the "mock" fight.

    Miguel: You fight like my sister!
    Tulio: Ah ha! I've fought your sister! That's a compliment!

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    Chel 

Miguel The Road to El Dorado

Voiced by: Rosie Perez

Miguel and Tulio's partner in crime, a local woman who is aware of their true nature and is willing to help them keep up the hoax and do away with mountains of gold. All of this, in exchange for a cut of the profits and a one way ticket out of El Dorado, of course.


  • Bare Your Midriff: Justified since it's local attire.
  • Behind Every Great Man: She's one of the main reasons Miguel and Tulio made it as far as they did with their ruse. She provides useful cultural input, and helped them win the ball game against fifteen warriors.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Is heavily implied to have this when Tulio and Miguel ask about her reasons for leaving El Dorado, wherein she looks visibly uncomfortable in answering.
  • Deadpan Snarker: She easily holds her own against Tulio in the biting wit department; must be one reason why he falls for her.
  • Does Not Like Shoes: Chel goes barefoot throughout the film, even although most natives don't. Whether it is case of Barefoot Poverty or just her personal preference is not clarified, but her playful personality hints more the latter.
  • Hammerspace: Lampshaded with Chel, with perhaps a bit of Victoria's Secret Compartment.

    Tulio: How did you get [my dice]?
    Miguel: Where was she keeping them?

  • Hartman Hips: Almost to the point of parody. Her waist was, tops, twenty inches and her breasts were rather large, considering. Waltz on down below the waist and her hips are at least as wide as her shoulders.
  • Heroic Seductress: Chel eventually manages to seduce Tulio, but she helps the protagonists keep up their disguises and helps save El Dorado from being found by Cortés.
  • Leg Focus: Her Stripperiffic outfit and Hartman Hips helps show off her thighs that are about as thick as her waist (if not thicker) and long legs that make up about two-thirds of her overall height.
  • Little Miss Con Artist: Chel's a sexier than usual version of this trope.
  • Ms. Fanservice: She wears a very skimpy outfit, has huge hips (as demonstrated in a ball-game scene) and openly seduces one of the male protagonists.
  • Nice Girl: Eventually becomes this. Earlier she showed her caring side around children, and became concerned for Tulio and Miguel at the ball game.
  • Nubile Savage: She is very shapely and scantily-clad.
  • Official Couple: With Tulio.
  • Silent Snarker: At times.
  • Spicy Latina: Invokes this trope with her accent, skin and hair color, and flirty, mischievous nature, but is if anything an inversion since it's the main characters that are Hispanic, while she's an indigenous American. However, the majority of modern day Latin Americans are mestizos, who are of mixed European (mostly Spanish) and indigenous American ancestry - this movie just takes place in the early days of Spanish colonization so there aren't a lot of mestizos, or what Westerners generally think of "Latinos" as yet.
  • Stripperiffic: Chel doesn't wear much, though it's downplayed.

    Altivo 

Miguel The Road to El Dorado

Voiced by: Frank Welker, plus stock horse vocalizations

A war horse from Cortés' own ship who gets dragged along on our heroes' hijinks.


  • Amplified Animal Aptitude: He helps our heroes escape the brig by finding the keys to their cell.
  • Food as Bribe: Conned into helping our heroes with an apple.
  • Horsing Around: Altivo has a bit of an attitude at times.
  • Silent Snarker: Has his moments of this, such as when he rolls his eyes at Miguel and Tulio's parting words when they're at sea and assuming they're about to die.

    Tzekel-Kan 

Miguel The Road to El Dorado

"I know what you are, and I know what you are not. And you are not GODS!"

Voiced by: Armand Assante

El Dorado's resident High Priest, and appointed servant of the gods. As such, he is very eager to serve Miguel and Tulio, the newly arrived "gods". A bit too enthusiastic with the practice of human sacrifice, and of the chaos and destruction the duo's arrival is supposed to announce...


  • Asshole Victim: He willingly leads Cortés to El Dorado, seeing him as the brutal and powerful god who was written to come and "cleanse" the city. When the entrance is blocked, Cortés assumes he was lied to. Exactly what he did to Tzekel-Kan is unknown but presumably he had him killed or sold into slavery.
  • Ax-Crazy: A Mayincatec - styled priest that's a tad overenthusiastic about the "killing" part of the rituals practiced in El Dorado. He eventually snaps and tries to brutally murder the dynamic duo, destroying half the city in the process.
  • Bad Boss: Using his assistant as a Human Sacrifice to bring the stone jaguar to life.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: He and Cortés are the main antagonists of the film. Tzekel-Kan acts as a more personal antagonist to Tulio and Miguel, whilst Cortés represents more of a looming threat. Unusually, he doesn't antagonise the protagonists for a large part of the film and actually wants them to take charge as his masters, but that involves conforming to his pious ways where people are sacrificed for even the smallest infraction.
  • Big "NO!": He yells "No!" when he seemingly plummets to his death in the maelstrom along with the stone jaguar.
  • Blood Magic: Invoked, with his obsession over death and sacrifice involved in his rituals. Eventually put into play to summon the Jaguar. That poor, poor soldier...
  • Evil Brit: Has a somewhat British-tinged accent, despite being a Mesoamerican priest.
  • Evil Is Hammy: He is practically giddy with joy when the gods arrive and it means he can really get into sacrificing humans to earn their pleasure.
  • Evil Is Petty: Tzekel-Kan is such a Sadist that something as small as Tulio and Miguel having a slapping contest is enough to make him grin immensely and drop his guard completely.
  • Evil Sorcerer: He can conjure up illusions when he feels like putting on a show. Turns out later that his rituals give him a lot worse tricks than that.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Even after he discovers Miguel and Tulio aren't gods, he maintains a veneer of civility.
  • The Fundamentalist: Tzekel-Kan's aim is to execute as many of those in El Dorado that he sees as wretched in the form of human sacrifice to appease the gods.
  • Healing Serpent: After finding out that Tulio and Miguel are not gods, Tzekel-Kan, while plotting, slices open his hand to smear some of his blood on a depiction of Miguel. His hand (when pulled back) is magically healed, but while healing, what appears to be little ghostly serpents are seen entering his hand.
  • Heroic Build: Though he's a priest and can perform magic, neither of which requires much physical strength, Tzekel-Kan is still rather muscular, more than either Miguel or Tulio.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: Unlike many Big Bads he just doesn't seem to get all those obvious non-verbal signs of Tulio that he is not comfortable about the whole gruesomely sacrifice people vision of his.
  • Human Sacrifice: His favorite part of his job. Much to his chagrin, however, all of his "offerings" get rejected and ultimately spared by Miguel and Tulio. He finally gets a chance at this, when he uses his lackey as a final ingredient in his potion to summon the Jaguar to kill the duo.
  • Humans Are Bastards: Tzekel-Kan's philosophy is steeped in this: that humans deserve to be sacrificed to the gods because humans are unworthy.
  • Jurisdiction Friction: There's a significant power-play going on between him and Chief Tannabok, and the arrival of the "gods" gives him a definite advantage. Unfortunately, the gods won't further his plan to gain respect through bloodshed, while the worldly chief realizes what's up before he does.
  • Karmic Death: Averted. It looks like Tzekel-Kan suffers a Disney Villain Death at one point, but it turns out he survived. Only to suffer a Fate Worse than Death at the end, if Spanish slavery is anything to go by.
  • Kick the Dog: Tzekel-Kan sacrifices his loyal but not-too-bright right hand man to fuel a spell.
  • Knight Templar: Tzekel-Kan wants to purge the city of what he believes to be the wicked and unrighteous citizens of El Dorado.
  • Lean and Mean: Downplayed. In comparison to the Chief's big and good attitude, Tzekel-Kan is a fundamentalist who will kill anyone he deems unfit to be before the gods, and has a relatively lean (though muscular) build.
  • Misanthrope Supreme: As he explains to Tulio he considers humanity in general to be disgusting and worthy of death, comparing them to snakes, spiders and rats.
  • Motion-Capture Mecha: An interesting magic example: The massive jaguar statue mimics his movements, and he in turn sees what it sees, allowing him to control it from a distance and chase Miguel and Tulio through the streets of El Dorado.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: Though pre-Hispanic civilizations practicing Human Sacrifice is Truth in Television, he does seem a bit too passionate about gruesomely slaughtering people as an offering to the gods, and about the supposed "cleansing" Miguel and Tulio's arrival is written to be brought forth...
  • Not-So-Harmless Villain: Comes as a creepy guy at first but a threat who can easily be dealt with once Miguel and Tulio put their foot down against him. Then he digs through his book of rituals and brings a giant jagaur statue to life.
  • Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Whatever pretense of human sacrifices being a Necessary Evil is thrown down the stairs when he decides to direct Hernán Cortés to El Dorado, fully aware he'd kill and enslave everyone. Guy just has a few screws loose.
  • The Quisling: Seems a bit too eager to please Miguel and Tulio, two complete strangers, giving off the essence of this trope. Later on, he plays this straight when he encounters Cortés, as he pretty much embodies the powerful, brutal god meant to come and "cleanse" El Dorado, as it was written.
  • Religion of Evil: You'd think the religion of the Doradans would be this by his eagerness to sacrifice people to the gods, but by the way that no one else shares his morbid enthusiasm and would much rather embrace the much friendlier new demeanor of the "gods", it seems that this is subverted, and it's just him. He certainly oozes the essence of this trope, however.
  • Sinister Minister: Tzekel-Kan is an evil priest. He's also, to a certain extent, The Grand Vizier. Though the chief is not the typical Horrible Judge of Character who lets the Grand Vizier get away with everything; he clearly distrusts and dislikes Tzekel-Kan, and is glad when the gods start speaking for themselves.
  • Super Mode: When he uses a spell to bring the jaguar statue in his temple to life, his eyes glow green and his fingernails extend into claws - mirrored by the jaguar statue extending its claws.

    Chief Tannabok 

Miguel The Road to El Dorado

Voiced by: Edward James Olmos

The current patriarch ruling over the city of El Dorado. A jovial and easygoing leader, with a fondness of celebration and feasts.


  • Acrofatic: He's huge, and far wider than any other human character. This doesn't seem to hinder him too much, as he breezily scales up the steps of the Temple of the Gods, same steps that leave the seemingly younger and fitter Miguel and Tulio, as well as a freaking horse, exhausted and panting on the floor. Also, after his men start failing to keep the large sculptures at the city gates from falling and crushing the boat our heroes are in, he grabs the ropes holding one of them himself and keeps them long enough for the the boat to pass. This happens after roughly a dozen warriors could not hold on.
  • Adipose Rex: Obese but still fit enough to walk to the top of the temple, while Miguel, Tulio and Altivo are all left breathless.
  • Big Fun: Fat, friendly, and more than happy to throw a feast at every single opportunity.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Around the middle of the movie, Chief Tannabok hints that he already suspected that Miguel and Tulio weren't gods. He probably chooses not to divulge this because the "gods"' presence weakened the high priest's power and put a stop to the human sacrifices, which he was clearly against. The fact they were pretty fun anyway probably helped.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: He loves his people in spite of the high minister's bloodthirsty religious fervor and accepts Miguel and Tulio even after he figures out on his own that they aren't gods.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: Chief Tannabok is shown to be thoroughly involved in keeping his city in order, from going out of his way to making the "Gods" happy to singlehandedly keeping the pillars from falling over too early at the end.
  • Secret Secret-Keeper: Chief Tannabok eventually hints that he figured out Miguel and Tulio aren't gods.
  • Stout Strength: Tannabok, easily the fattest person in El Dorado, manages to single-handedly slow the topple of a massive stone pillar by pulling on all the guy ropes at once.

    Hernán Cortés 

Miguel The Road to El Dorado

"My crew was as carefully chosen as the disciples of Christ, and I will not tolerate stowaways."

Voiced by: Jim Cummings

Yes, the Hernán Cortés from the history books: a fearsome Spanish Conquistador determined to reach the new world in his pursuit of gold and glory.


  • Big Bad Ensemble: With Tzekel-Kan. He's divorced from a good amount of the plot, but his inevitable discovery of El Dorado is a threat that overshadows even Tzekel-Kan.
  • Death Glare: Almost every expression of his is one of these.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Cortés plans to have Miguel and Tulio flogged and sold into slavery, all for accidentally stowing away on his ship.
  • The Dreaded: Tulio and Miguel have massive Oh, Crap! when dragged before him, and they are both terrified of what he will do if he finds El Dorado.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: Courtesy of Jim Cummings.
  • Flat Character: His character is little more than greed and unflinching hostility, meant as merely an impending threat to the duo and El Dorado. There is also much grimness and religious bigotry by the way he always uses religion, often to call others heathens.
  • Historical Badass Upgrade: Although the real Córtes did conquer the Aztec empire and was a Frontline General, by all accounts, he was not the imposing, unwavering mountain of a man he's depicted as in the film. Subverted to an extent in that we never see him in action, so his badassery is more implied than patent.
  • Historical Villain Upgrade: The real Cortés took Spanish prisoners in a battle with a fleet sent to arrest him for a supposed mutiny (the guy who sent him to the new world changed his mind at the last second due to a petty argument, but Cortés went anyway), but the idea of enslaving a fellow Christian or Spaniard would have horrified him, especially if they were just stowaways (aside from it being downright illegal in the Spanish Empire). He was also a charming diplomat who forged real alliances with several native groups, not to mention he bedded a native woman and had a legitimized son with her, while in the film he is a humorless hardass who uses the one native who submits to him as a tool to destroy and kill all the others, betraying him the minute he doesn't get his way.
  • Hypocrite: For all his talking of Christian values and eagerness to brutalise and victimise those that he considers infidels and heathens and therefore as below him (which is very hypocritical on its own if you think about it), he is motivated chiefly by his own greed and his personal quest for gold and glory, both of which are very un-Christian in theory, and he is actually much worse about it than Miguel and Tulio given that he has no qualms to get either of them by force even if they don't belong to him.
  • Karma Houdini: A Foregone Conclusion, really. Cortés would live for another 28 years in fact, although the real Cortés died in near-poverty, if nominally a marchis.
  • Kick the Son of a Bitch: He ends up being the one to deal with Tzekel-Kan by capturing (and possibly enslaving) him.
  • Knight of Cerebus: The movie's lighthearted tone fades any point he's onscreen. The threat he poses to the duo and El Dorado as a whole is taken deadly serious.
  • Lantern Jaw of Justice: Inverted. He's the main villain.
  • Non-Action Big Bad: He is never seen in action at any point in the film, although his size, build and personality imply he's definitely no slouch.
  • Outside-Context Problem: For the natives.
  • The Unfought: He's never encountered directly by the protagonists after they escape, and he never lays siege on El Dorado, since he never actually finds it. Justified, since, according to Miguel and Tulio (and backed by historical fact), El Dorado doesn't stand a chance of winning a battle against him.

    Who is Miguel in El Dorado?

    Miguel is one of the two protagonists of The Road to El Dorado. He is voiced by British/Northern Irish actor, Kenneth Branagh.

    Are Miguel and Tulio a couple?

    No, they're just friends. One of them falls in love with a woman in El Dorado and almost decides to stay there with her.

    Did the chief know Miguel was human?

    Trivia. Chief Tannabok is one of three El Dorado natives to know of Tulio and Miguel's mortality, the others being Chel and Tzekel-Kan. However, it is implied he kept it secret due to seeing their kindness and positive influence on his people.

    Who does Chel end up with in Road to El Dorado?

    Over the course of the movie, Tulio as well becomes attracted to Chel, due to her young figure and personality, and two decide to become a couple. Her caring side also comes out when she is around children and animals.