9 (Nine) is the titular main protagonist of the film of the same name. He is a miniature doll called a "stitchpunk" created by a scientist to restore life to Earth after it was wiped out by machines.
He is voiced by Elijah Wood.
Background[]
Personality[]
9 is one of the more heartfelt of the group, putting others before himself. He starts out quite naïve, but quickly learns to overcome this flaw to empower his intuition.
Physical Appearance[]
9 appears as a brown burlap stitchpunk. He has a golden/yellow zipper on his front to fasten his abdomen, and the number "9" inked on his back. 9 was initially left without a voice box, leaving him mute. Thanks to 2, however, this was fixed.
Role in the film[]
9 is The Scientist's last and final cognitive soul fragment . He awoke in the world alone, voiceless, left with the Talisman, and with no guidance from the beginning—until he was found in the Emptiness by 2, who gave him a voice box, bestowing him with his words of wisdom and inspirational enlightenment. Not long following, 9 and 2 end up being sighted and attacked by the Cat Beast (shortened to "The Beast"). The talisman is confiscated by The Beast, while 9 is left wounded in his left shoulder. The Beast takes off with 2, leaving him stranded. 9 attempts to take off after the Beast, but ends up passing out from his injury. He is then rescued by 5, who sews his shoulder back up.
9 awakens in the Workshop, alarmed at first by 5, but quickly reassured that he is now safe. 5 ponders the whereabouts of 2, which 9 informs him that he had been accompanying 2. They are cut short by the entrance of 1, who walks in and immediately approaches with suspicion and inspects 9, checking his number; 5 hesitantly answers 1, stating he found 9 in the Emptiness, triggering an immediate and rash response from 1, scolding and intimidating 5 for disobeying his rule and threatening their safety with the risk of leading the Beast back to them. Upon the Beast's mentioning, 9 informs 1 and 5 that The Beast is what took 2, which 1 is quick to dismiss, stating, "That's the end of it." 9 insists that 2 was still alive, causing 1 to signal 8 to enter the Workshop and intimidate 9 and 5 back into submission. 1 comments about 9 being "confused", leading him to his main chamber within the Cathedral, attempting to appease 9's curiosity by reflecting on the beginning of their whereabouts, and how he led the rest to the Sanctuary. This backfires on 1, however, as 9 only has more questions. After being disciplined and assigned to 5 on watch duty at the Watchtower, 9 questions 1's leadership and manages to convince 5 to accompany him to rescue 2 from The Beast. 5 takes his map and weapons with him to assist on the rescue expedition.
Along the way, they manage to find 2's hat and spear and are later struck by treacherous winds sweeping over the wastes, which cause 5's map to slip from his grip. They quickly decide against returning to The Sanctuary, as the winds will not allow them to go back. 9 sees a tunnel and brings it to 5's attention as a suggestion to protect themselves from the inclement weather, though their next obstacle is the need for a source of light to traverse through the tunnel safely. As a quick observation in scoping the land, 9 spots a nearby broken-down human car, and 5 extracts a light bulb from one of its headlights. 9 has the idea to combine 2's hat and spear into a light staff, using a watch battery provided by 5, and they both proceed into the tunnel to rescue 2.
Meanwhile, a shadowy figure has found 5's map and has quickly inferred that someone has gone into the tunnel.
9 and 5 continue through the tunnel and make their way to the entrance of the factory. Upon entering, they see rows of inactive Steel Behemoths by the hundreds, as well as the gas bombs they were equipped with during the Machine War. After having passed the dormant weaponry, they make their way over through a smaller tunnel to the wreckage of the Factory. On the top of a pile of rubble stands a bird cage harbouring 2 prisoner. The Beast can be seen tearing away at something which is obscured from their view. They are caught by the Beast in the midst of rescuing 2 and a chase around the Factory ensues until the mysterious figure from before comes to their aide, killing the Beast via decapitation. The mysterious figure reveals herself to be 7.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In the Russian adaptation, 9 represents The Scientist.
- 9 has an action figure made by NECA; he comes with his light bulb staff and the talisman.
- It was undisclosed to why 9 did not initially have a voice box. It is speculated that the Scientist did not have another voice box for 9, though in theoretical inquiry the insertion compartment that could have been an affixed voice box was used as a slot receptacle for the talisman— which it is most likely a nod to the original 2005 short film.
- When 9 escaped the can he was hiding in, he lost a bit of fabric and stitching, making him weak in the textile secureness of his left shoulder. When 5 fixes him up with new red thread, instead of his arm movement being a bit restricted, 9 is still able to move it freely.
- It is possible that both 9 and 7 have romantic affections/feelings for each other.
- In a deleted scene, after all the stitchpunks that died were free, 6's soul moves to a music box (that was later changed to the message for 9) with a mirror and a metal plaque with the word "HOPE" on it. 9 pulls out a small ripped piece of paper reading, "The Last", completing the sentiment. This would have been a part of the early concept for the film.
- The commentary has mentioned that 9 is the catalyst of the group.
- 9 and the rest of the stitchpunks look quite alot like Sackboy from the playstation series little big planet. However, due to the two being created in different years, 9 in 2005 and Sackboy in 2008, it's very likely this is a coincidence, though it could be that Sackboy's design took a bit of inspiration from the original short.