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Gill is one of the main characters in Finding Nemo and a minor character in Finding Dory. He is a Moorish Idol. He is the leader of the Tank Gang.

Finding Nemo[]

"The mysterious mastermind of the tank gang, moorish idol fish Gill hides a kind heart under his moody exterior. He believes that fish were not meant to live in a box, and dreams of freedom. Gill has got a genius for inventing crazy escape plans, but so far none have ever succeeded. Not even the one where everyone gets to roll over the window in plastic bags..."[1]

Gill's only dream is to escape from the tank. He had made several escape attempts, but the first time, he landed on dental tools, giving him severe scars on his right side, and destroying his right fin. His appearance is modeled after the voice actor who does his voice, especially the coloring around his mouth to show the deep wrinkles that Dafoe has on his face.

He is the leader of the fish living inside the dentist's office fish tank called the Tank Gang.

Unlike the other Tank Gang members, Gill was not impressed with Nemo's entrance. He wouldn’t help Nemo out of the tube telling the clown fish that he can get himself out. Learning that because Nemo is a young fish who can fit through small tubes, Gill immediately put together a plan to have him use a pebble to stop the aquarium filter. With the filter sabotaged, he knew the dentist will put the fish in bags and they will have the opportunity to return to the ocean. At one point he noticed that Nemo was missing his dad, he assured Nemo that his Dad is looking for him but Nemo says his dad is scared of the ocean so he may not be coming. Eventually the dentist goes to the bathroom so the plan is in action. Nemo is able to get inside the filter and with a pebble jams the filter and swim out the tube. Unfortunately the filter gets unjammed and the Tank gang have to pull Nemo out with a branch. After getting Nemo out, Gill tells them “We’re done.” as he almost killed Nemo. Gill isolated himself out of regret. Some time later when Nemo goes to see if he was okay. While Nemo almost apologizes for not accomplishing his job, Gill tells Nemo that he should be the one who’s sorry. He says he was so desperate to get back to the ocean he was willing to put Nemo in danger and nothing should be worth that.

Eventually, Nigel the Pelican comes by to tell Nemo all about his adventures and is on his way to Sydney, Gill is glad to hear Nemo’s dad is looking for him after all. Suddenly Nemo grabs a pebble and swims into the filter. Gill is shocked and tries to stop Nemo but cannot so the tank gang tries to get him out. They hear a sound from the filter and become worried about him but Nemo appears behind them fine. Everyone is glad that Nemo did it and Gill especially is impressed with Nemo’s actions. Eventually the tank becomes the filthy and he is confident they will escape very soon. Unfortunately the next day the tank has cleaned itself thanks to a new filter system the dentist installed. Matters go down hill as Nemo is caught in a bag for Darla and he and the other fish are in shock when Darla arrives. Gill eventually helps Nemo escape the office by jumping onto the dentist's mirror to catapult the clownfish into the air so that he lands into a sink leading to a drain, which leads to the ocean. After Dr. Sherman puts Gill back into the tank, the Tank Gang congratulates him on finally succeeding in helping Nemo return to the ocean.

At the end of the film, Gill and the other Tank Gang members manage to escape from Dr. Sherman's office. Since Dr. Sherman's new AquaScum 2003 has broken (presumably sabotaged by the fish), he has to take his fish out, put them in bags, and clean the tank himself. While he complains to his secretary Barbara about the device breaking when it has a lifetime guarantee, Gill and the others make their way out of the office. They are seen having crossed the street and jumped into the ocean to their freedom.

Finding Dory[]

In Finding Dory, Gill, along with the rest of the Tank Gang, appears in the post-credits scene. They are still trapped in their respective bags, now covered with algae. Gill congratulates the gang and proclaims that they will not have any more problems, shortly before they are captured by the Marine Life Institute volunteers.

Personality[]

As a scarred fish Gill tends to be tough like and determined. Gill is very smart as he knew how the tank's filter system worked and whenever a plan of his doesn't work, he always comes up with a new one. Despite this he does shown to have a kindness to him as after seeing how much Nemo missed his dad, Gill decided to make it a mission to get Nemo back to his father. He also did not resist revealing his scars to Nemo after noticing Nemo's reaction to it.

Trivia[]

  • Gill's voice, as Dafoe said, is based on the character Earl Copen, whom he plays in the movie Animal Factory.
  • His mannerisms are quite similar to Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, Hamm from Toy Story, and Doc Hudson from Cars.
  • Gill's species, Moorish Idols, are notoriously difficult to keep in captivity due to their diet and mannerisms. This may be an interesting way to show Gill's deep desire for escape from the aquarium and into the ocean. In addition, Gill was pressuring Nemo to follow his challenging orders on his escape plan.
  • Gill may have been acquainted with Marlin in the past, as his final words to Nemo before flinging him into the spit-sink were: "Tell your dad I said 'hi.'"
  • His Polish name is "Idol" (from his species) because Gil means "bullfinch" or "mucus" in Polish.
  • Together with Nemo and possibly Jacques, Gill is the only member from the "Tank Gang" who is not bought from a store but is from the ocean.

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