James Peter Sullivan

“*I need scarers who are confident, tenacious, tough, and intimidating. I need scarers like... like... James P. Sullivan.*”―Henry J. Waternoose praising Sullivan

**James Patrick Sullivan** (better known as **Sulley**) is the protagonist of the 2001 Disney•Pixar animated film *Monsters, Inc.* and the deuteragonist of its 2013 prequel. He was a renowned scarer at Monsters, Inc. where he works alongside his partner and best friend Mike Wazowski. Sulley's world gets turned upside down when he becomes the accidental guardian of a human child (whom he dubs "Boo"). In working to return Boo to the human world, Sulley manages to uncover a company conspiracy while also solving an energy crisis that plagued the city of Monstropolis.

## Background

Sulley is a top scarer under his boss Henry J. Waternoose, who is the CEO of Monsters, Inc. Sulley's best friend is Mike Wazowski. His mom is Mrs. Sullivan (who is not seen in the movie, but mentioned by Mike, with whom he seems to be close), and his dad is the famous scarer Bill Sullivan. When he is first seen, Sulley is the top scarer at Monsters, Inc., responsible for generating the majority of scares that provide power for the city of Monstropolis.

### Personality

In *Monsters University*, 18-year old Sulley was shown to be *very* different than he was later in life: being the son of Bill Sullivan, an accomplished Scarer, and having the natural talent that came from his family, Sulley was more laid-back, arrogant, cocky, immature, a slacker, and something of a party animal. Because of these traits, Sulley wasn't a model student and very lazy, once stating "You don't need to *study* Scaring; you just *do* it!"

He developed a competitive rivalry with a fellow student in the Scaring Program, Mike Wazowski, who had the brains and intelligence for Scaring but not the natural talent. He was also chosen to join the Roar Omega Roar fraternity due to his Scaring talent. To his frustration, however, Mike was beating him in class because of Mike's keen studying while Sulley wasn't doing well. Johnny Worthington III temporarily took his jacket unless Sulley passed the exam and not losing to Mike.

Sulley realized just having the talent wasn't enough when Dean Hardscrabble kicked him and Mike out of the Scare Program, for which he blamed Mike (evident by constantly glaring at him and crushing a scream canister in his hands), even though he was bullying him and not studying. Roar Omega Roar also took the jacket away, which meant that he was kicked out of their group. But later, he was desperate enough to join Mike and the Oozma Kappa fraternity to get back in by winning the Scare Games when he overheard Mike and Hardscrabble's wager, that if OK won, the whole team would be allowed in the Scaring Program. He came off as shallow, deeming Oozma Kappa to be lost causes when they kept losing (even suggesting to Mike that they get a new team as well as cheating) but eventually came to appreciate them for their friendship. Even so, Sulley wanted so bad to get back into the Scaring Program that he rigged the last event so that Mike would easily win, as he honestly didn't think Mike was scary.

At first, Sulley tried to justify his cheating but realized what it almost cost him, especially when Mike sought to prove himself by scaring actual children, and when an argument erupted between them, Sulley revealed that being a Sullivan made everyone expect him to be scary, and while he acted scary and confident, in truth, Sulley was terrified of the expectations he had to live up to, and what his family would think of him if he did not.

The friendship and teamwork between Mike and Sulley enabled them to surprise Dean Hardscrabble, who indirectly encouraged them to work as mailmen for Monsters Inc. when she's forced to expel them from school. They worked together until at last, they achieved their dream of becoming a Scare-Team.

In *Monsters, Inc.*, Sulley is portrayed as good-natured, hardworking, gentle, and confident, who loved his job as a Scarer and while he basked in the limelight of being Top Scarer and was indeed going for the All-Time Scare Record, he had a humble side in that he was more interested in being a good employee for the company. This was most likely due to him having worked his way up through the ranks of the company from mailman to janitor to cafeteria work to can wrangler and finally to scarer.

One of the defining traits of his character was his friendship with his Scaring-Assistant, Mike Wazowski. They're best friends, roommates, incredibly devoted to each other, and help each other out, as Sulley secured a reservation for Mike at Harryhausen's for his date with Celia Mae on her special birthday, and covered for him in a paperwork concern.

Sulley's world, however, is turned upside-down when he discovers a human child, initially and frantically doing everything he can to get rid of her while trying not to get "infected" due to the Monsters' mistaken beliefs that human children are "toxic, deadly, that a single touch could kill them". When left with no choice, he involves Mike, who is more concerned with their career and their well-beings, but as Sulley spends time with the girl, he warms up to her and comes to disregard everything he's ever believed about human children, eventually giving her the name "Boo", and becomes attached to her, like a father. However, his affection and protectiveness for Boo put a strain on his friendship with Mike as he relies on Mike to help him in his madcap efforts to keep Boo safe from Randall and hide her (and their discretions) from the CDA. When Mike protests, Sulley chooses to help Boo over appeasing Mike's pride. When Sulley, at the demand of his boss, does a scare-demonstration and accidentally frightens Boo, he tries to reassure her it wasn't real, but then he notices the images of the demonstration, showing that Boo is horrified at his roaring. Sulley finally realizes how the children actually feel when the monsters scare them. His many years as a Scarer comes back to haunt him when Boo is so frightened of him that she shies from his touch to his shame and regret.

By all his actions, Sulley proves himself to be a well-meaning person who strives to do the right thing. He was shown to be observant and keen-minded to Boo's laughs super-charging electronics in ways screams had never done although Sulley appears to be a little trusting in some cases and he has a strong moral compass; he is appalled by Mr. Waternoose's involvement in Randall's plan to kidnap children to harvest their screams. And, when he scares Boo, and sees how he has scared her with his behavior, he starts to seriously question whether the company's practices are ethical.

Even so, Sulley has a powerful devotion to those he cares for, risking his job, his life, and even his friendship with Mike to save Boo, and while he has his ups and downs with Mike they are true and loyal friends to each other, despite their differences.

### Physical appearance

Sulley is a large hairy cyan teal monster with lilac spots and periwinkle eyes. He has curved horns, white claws, razor sharp fangs, a huge chin, white spikes that run down his backside to the end of his long dinosaur-like tail, and a large furry fat belly. He has bushy eyebrows and a teal nose. In *Monsters University*, it is revealed he sheds and was thinner with mullet-like hair, a little shorter and his horns were smaller and not sharp.