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Nguyen is a supporting character in We Bare Bears.
Nguyen is a 10-year old Vietnamese girl who, as the tallest and most experienced member of the Poppy Rangers, is the second-in-command of the Poppy Rangers, and like her fellow Poppies, Nguyen is a brave and adventurous little girl scout/park ranger and troop who is friends with Ranger Tabes and the bears, more especially Grizz. Nguyen shows high commitment to her aforementioned fellow Poppy Rangers, but Nguyen is more silent and confident, yet more wise and mature than the other Poppy Rangers, like Parker. Additionally, Nguyen has more hyperawareness than the other Poppies. Outside of her career as a park ranger like Ranger Tabes, Nguyen is typically seen casually playing with the other Poppy Rangers and having fun, more especially by having tissue and pillow fights with the other Poppy Rangers, and/or flying kites with them.
Nguyen aspires to grow up and become a principal dancer in the future.
Episode Appearances[]
Season 3[]
- "Poppy Rangers" (Debut)
- "Hurricane Hal"
- "Ranger Games"
Season 4[]
Movies[]
Appearance[]
Nguyen is a young Vietnamese girl of Chinese descent who bears a light olive complexion. She is quite tall and has a slender build, being the tallest member of the Poppy Rangers. Her long, black hair is pulled back into a ponytail and light brown streaks can be seen throughout. She is also of Vietnamese ancestry, but is unrevealed.
Nguyen's "Poppy Ranger" outfit consists of a light-moss green short-sleeved shirt, overlaid with a yellow bandanna around the collar with a single olive stripe across the middle. As well, this includes green-toned khaki shorts, tennis shoes of the same color and tube socks underneath. Over-top the entire outfit is a dark green sash.
In the annual Peewee Ranger Games, Nguyen's "Peewee Ranger Games" uniform consists of an orange shirt with the number "two" on it (referencing how Nguyen is second-in-command of the Poppies), overlaid with red stripes around the outer sections, along with wearing red shorts and having an orange cap. Like Diaz, Nguyen has eye blacks, but underneath both of her eyes.
Upon turning primal and psychotic from too much starvation in the episode, "Lord of the Poppies," Nguyen's "Poppy Ranger" uniform is tattered, with her yellow bandanna around the collar and dark green sash missing. Nguyen's hair looks decrepit and has a green headband tied on top of her head. Additionally, Nguyen wields a collection of wooden and sharp spikes as a form of self-defense and combat. Like the other Poppies (sans Parker), Nguyen is virtually barefoot.
Personality[]
Like her fellow Poppy Rangers, Nguyen is kindhearted, affable, selfless, harmonizing, brave, and adventurous, typically following the commands of their superior Ranger Tabes and Grizz, regardless of the severe danger those commands await. Furthermore, Nguyen is shown to have not only high loyalty, but is also the most aware and intelligent out of the rest of the Poppy Rangers, showing the most of her loyalty towards her fellow Poppy Rangers, demonstrated by Nguyen working with the Poppy Rangers as an excellent heroic team, saving Wallace from Hurricane Hal and assisting the three bears in defeating Agent Trout, leading to the latter's deserved incarceration. She was even the one to alert Grizz that Wallace is flying her kite outside in the Hurricane Hal.
Being a skilled dancer, Nguyen's future job is to be a principal dancer, but like Parker, she is described as "quiet and confident," meaning that she does not desire to attract much attention, especially if it is unwanted, but is more convinced and hopeful more than the other Poppy Rangers as well (sans Parker). Like Wallace, though, Nguyen is often blunt towards Grizz, shown when Nguyen, the Poppy Rangers and Ranger Tabes are sailing to the island in the episode, "Lord of the Poppies," she states, "Well, let's hope he doesn't mess anything up," while discussing about camping, and lashed out at Grizz for foiling the remaining plan for nourishment in the same episode while awaiting Ranger Tabes' return with lunch in the same episode before breaking down to insanity as a result of sheer hunger, but still shows high loyalty towards Grizz nonetheless.
Nguyen's valor and pure bond with the other Poppies is occasionally fleeting, however, demonstrated when Nguyen and the other Poppy Rangers scream in fear and embrace Grizz Bear for safety when thunder strikes, heavily implying that Nguyen and the Poppy Rangers have pure fear of thunderstorms, such as the Hurricane Hal. Additionally, in the episode, "Lord of the Poppies," as Grizz's incompetence hits the last straw of Nguyen's patience, she, alongside the other Poppy Rangers, eventually succumb to hunger and insanity, to the point that she decides to devour Grizz and turn against him, which references how Panda and Ice Bear became primal animals in the episode, "Primal." Not only that, Nguyen seems to crave deeply for leadership, which is what her fellow Poppy Rangers are also after, demonstrated when Grizz accidentally causes the Poppy Rangers to begin a "Ranger War," turning against and fighting each other for the guidebook, which Wallace stole from Grizz upon kidnapping and entrapping him to cook him for food, which is due to Grizz's "shoulder angels."
Along with the Ranger War, Nguyen is also shown to be quite lethal, like the other Poppy Rangers, shown when she and the Poppy Rangers were about to eat Grizz out of appetite before Tabes shows up with pizza, despite being initially reluctant about it, but this was due to Grizz's incompetence affecting her. Moreover, she even went as far as throwing wooden spikes towards Diaz to seize the guidebook from her hands, even if it endangered the latter's life.
History[]
Earlier Childhood[]
Prior to the events of We Bare Bears, Nguyen was once a traditional citizen and school student, which was before she had developed a pure friendship and bond upon her first interaction with the other Poppy Rangers (Wallace, Murphy, Diaz and Parker), and throughout the early stages of her childhood, Nguyen was raised by her unidentified parents and she spent most of her early childhood hanging out and playing with the other Poppies, as well as flying kites and exploring. Nguyen aspires to be a principal dancing as she is purely experienced and skilled in dancing, and shows pure passion with music and atmosphere. Upon first meeting Dana Tabes, Nguyen immediately saw Tabes as a mother-like figure and has shown high commitment towards her, and has relentlessly worked and trained hard to attain all badges possible from Ranger Tabes by succeeding several missions.
Rangers[]
Nguyen and the Poppies with Grizz.
Years after Nguyen was dedicated to working with Ranger Tabes to attain badges, she was officialized as a Poppy Ranger, along with Wallace, Parker, Diaz and Parker. In the episode, "Poppy Rangers," Nguyen and the Poppies are first seen marching with Tabes, before the girls analyze and examine a grasshopper found by Tabes and prepare to explore the Howling Mountain Cave for the Poppies to attain the final Poppy Ranger badge, the Spelunking Badge. The Poppy Rangers are reluctant on exploring the cave, but after Tabes announced that a cave expert is joining the squad, the Poppies become passionate and excited. The cave expert happens to be, much to Nguyen and the Poppies' surprise, Grizz. After Nguyen and the Poppies introduce themselves to Grizz, Nguyen and the Poppies start exploring the cave with Grizz and Tabes. While the Poppies spent most of the time analyzing the cave and asking questions about it to Grizz and Tabes to learn about it, the Poppies' journey through the Howling Mountain Cave was quite hectic: the five girls, including Nguyen, took legitimate entertainment and humor from Grizz being attacked by bats in the cave and while analyzing Grizz's supplies out of his backpack; Grizz's loud voice has caused the cave to temporarily collapse, prompting the Poppies to retreat for safety.
Further into the Howling Mountain Cave, however, things took a darker turn: Tabes chooses the darker route of the cave, at odds with Grizz choosing the more safer route of the cave. While Tabes is passionate to explore the darker route of the cave, Grizz and the Poppies, including Nguyen, embark through it in paranoia. It reaches a certain point where the Poppies, Grizz and Tabes are forced to cross the very narrow path to the way out of the cave, but eventually got themselves stranded due to Grizz and Tabes having a brief and heated argument about crossing the narrow path and deciding to go back. Ranger Tabes becomes hopeless upon the aftermath of it, but Grizz and the Poppies reassure her, prompting Tabes to toss each Poppy Ranger out of the cave to safety after witnessing the grasshopper outside of the cave, as well as getting herself and Grizz out of the cave, much to Nguyen and the Poppies' cheer for them. In the end, Nguyen and the Poppies successfully attain their final badge by Tabes, including Grizz, and move on to another adventure.
Relationships[]
Grizz Bear[]
Grizz cheerleading for Nguyen to win against the Ivy Rangers in the Peewee Ranger Games.
Although this is not to show that Nguyen is not as affectionate towards the other bears, Nguyen has the closest friendship with Grizz aside from Ranger Tabes, affectionately calling him "Bear Guy," even though he is an animal. In "Poppy Rangers," while Nguyen is surprised to first meet Grizz, calling him out as "a bear with a backpack," her first impression of Grizz is still affectionate nonetheless outside of that. Nguyen, along with the Poppy Rangers and Grizz, explores and embark through the Howling Mountain Cave with Tabes.
Nguyen and the Poppies taking amusement from Grizz getting attacked by bats while exploring through the Howling Mountain Cave.
Grizz examines the interior of the cave to Tabes and the Poppy Rangers. Shortly after Nguyen asks about the kind of bats she, the Poppies, Tabes and Grizz found in the cave, Grizz attempts to stand up against the bats, only to be attacked by them, which leads the Poppies enthusiastically laughing at him and taking humor at Grizz being attacked by bats. Later in the cave, Grizz draws sketches of himself and the Poppies on the wall of ammonite fossils, and Grizz teaches Nguyen and the Poppies about the cave full of stalactites by saying, "That's when it gets so hot that the cave starts to melt," much to Nguyen and the Poppies' interest. He eventually guides Nguyen and the Poppies into the giant stalactite above them, and while Grizz searches for a camera in his backpack, Nguyen and the Poppies investigate Grizz's supplies with a mix of enthusiasm, curiosity and interest. While going through the dark route of the cave, the Poppies side with Grizz for being reluctant on going much further in the path and decide to take the safer path, which dissatisfies Tabes. In "Hurricane Hal," the Poppies offer Grizz his kite to save Wallace from being blown away from the hurricane (despite Nguyen making fun of Grizz's childish-looking kite from the start), and the Poppies work with Grizz to pull Wallace to safety. In "Ranger Games," Nguyen and the Poppy Rangers are motivated by Grizz's cheerleading to defeat the Ivy Rangers. While Nguyen is disappointed of Grizz's lack of kickball skill in the Peewee Ranger Games causing him and the Poppies to lose their winning streak, Nguyen is still eager to plan on how to encourage Grizz in the final round of the Peewee Ranger Games, which is through cheerleading, which prompts Grizz to take the victory of the Peewee Ranger Games.
Overall, Grizz Bear seems to be the closest to Nguyen aside from Ranger Tabes, almost seeing him as a "father" figure. Despite Nguyen being often blunt towards him and his incompetence, especially in "Lord of the Poppies," she still shows a close friendship and pure loyalty towards him nonetheless. As a cherry on top, Nguyen is the only Poppy Ranger to call Grizz "sir," shown in "Hurricane Hal," due to possessing dreaded manlike skills (such as letting out powerful and loud roars that is capable of knocking back the Wolf Pack), and even calls him a "cave expert," even though he was not one at first.
Wallace[]
Nguyen soothing Wallace's injured ankle caused by the Ivy Rangers in the annual Peewee Ranger Games.
As with the other Poppies, Nguyen and Wallace are childhood friends with each other, thus having a close relationship with each other. As seen in "Hurricane Hal," Nguyen saved Wallace from the Hurricane Hal and even altered Grizz that she was flying her kite out in the hurricane when she was not supposed to, and Nguyen and Wallace went along with each other and the other Poppies to fly kites before the Hurricane Hal strikes, and in "Ranger Games," Nguyen asks how to motivate him into successfully winning the annual Peewee Ranger Games against the Ivies and Zhao (as well as to make him subvert his traditional incompetence), and Wallace responds with a great plan, and Nguyen and the other Poppies tag along with it, which is cheerleading for Grizz. Additionally, Nguyen comforted Wallace through her injuries after the Ivy Rangers assault her in the Peewee Ranger Games. Furthermore, in "Lord of the Poppies," Nguyen and Wallace discuss about Grizz's incompetence going overkill while attaining the other Poppy Badges before the Island Camping Badge, but they both still passionately allow Grizz to tag along for the Island Camping Badge, and upon becoming psychotic from starvation after Grizz failed multiple times to find food for them and the Poppies, Wallace commands Nguyen and Diaz to capture Grizz, who they hallucinate as a "walking hamburger," and the two rangers oblige, and when the Poppies had enough of Grizz's incompetent leadership and attempt to hunt down for food at last, Nguyen falls into insanity from ongoing starvation, and Wallace is among those to comfort her through her breakdown. Although the two rivaled against and fought each other and the Poppies over the Elite Ranger Guidebook in "Lord of the Poppies," this was subverted immediately at the end of the episode, and while Nguyen and Wallace tend to argue and get in conflict with each other (as with the other Poppies), this only happens occasionally.
Overall, among the rest of the Poppies, Wallace is shown to be Nguyen's closest friend of the troops. In addition, both Poppies have family members revealed in "Ranger Games."
Diaz[]
Nguyen and Diaz cheerleading for Grizz to win the annual Peewee Ranger Games.
Like the other Poppies, Nguyen and Diaz have a childhood friendship with each other. Among the Poppies, however, Nguyen is seen interacting with Diaz the most (along with Wallace). As seen in "Hurricane Hal," Diaz and Nguyen went along with each other and the other Poppies to fly kites before the Hurricane Hal strikes, and before that, Nguyen and Diaz, along with the other Poppies, showed their kites to Grizz in gratification, and in "Ranger Games," Diaz suggests that she and the Poppies should support him and motivate him into successfully winning the annual Peewee Ranger Games against the Ivies and Zhao (as well as to make him subvert his traditional incompetence), and Nguyen agrees with her plan and asks how to do so. Upon becoming psychotic from starvation after Grizz failed multiple times to find food for them and the Poppies in "Lord of the Poppies," Wallace commands Nguyen and Diaz to capture Grizz, who they hallucinate as a "walking hamburger," and the two rangers oblige, and when the Poppies had enough of Grizz's incompetent leadership and attempt to hunt down for food at last, Nguyen falls into insanity from ongoing starvation, and Diaz is among those to comfort her through her breakdown. Furthermore, when Wallace assumed that Ranger Tabes is taking time to return with her and the Poppies' lunch, Nguyen is dissatisfied with Wallace's unlikely assumption and responds, "Why would you say something like that?" with Diaz siding with her as well. Although the two fought each other and the Poppies over the Elite Ranger Guidebook in "Lord of the Poppies," this was subverted immediately at the end of the episode.
Ranger Tabes[]
Nguyen analyzing the grasshopper to Ranger Tabes, stating that "it can jump 20 times the length of their own body."
Upon first meeting Dana Tabes, Nguyen saw Tabes as a "mother" figure and shows high commitment towards her, and has relentlessly worked and trained hard to attain all badges possible from Ranger Tabes by succeeding and accomplishing several missions relative to the badges, and often calls Tabes "sir" due to the latter's strength and valor being comparable to a man, as well as the other Poppies. In "Poppy Rangers," Nguyen and the Poppy Rangers are seen marching forward with Tabes, singing their signature song, "Poppy Rangers have no fear, kind to every bird and deer!" After being stranded in the cave, the Poppies eventually motivate and reassure that Tabes is not a "terrible ranger," prompting Tabes to reform herself from her overconfidence and leading to her getting herself, Nguyen, the Poppies and Grizz out of the cave before it collapses. Nguyen and the Poppy Rangers are typically obedient to Ranger Tabes in her commands, even if it leads them into possible danger, such as analyzing a grasshopper, with Nguyen stating that "it can jump 20 times the length of their own body," embarking through the Howling Mountain Cave to earn the Spelunking Badge, heading back to the Ranger Station for safety from the Hurricane Hal even though Nguyen and the girls are disappointed that they cannot fly their kites due to the hurricane in "Hurricane Hal," and doing all they can to attain all badges from Tabes.
Overall, Ranger Tabes is the closest to Nguyen, along with the other Poppies, with the latter seeing Tabes as a "mother" figure, and as Tabes is the one who leads and aspires Nguyen and the Poppies to become better people in the future, Tabes is seen as Nguyen and the Poppies' mentor.
Ivy Rangers[]
The Poppy Rangers vs. The Ivy Rangers.
The Ivy Rangers are the arch-rivals of Nguyen and the Poppy Rangers, along with Ranger Zhao. Despite the differences between the two groups, the Ivy Rangers are the egotistical, arrogant and inconsiderate counterparts of the Poppy Rangers, including Nguyen, with the latter standing up to the Ivies by stating that she and the Poppies are not prepared to lose in response to the Ivies mocking them that they will lose for the fourth time. The Ivies have became the bullies of Nguyen and the Poppies ever since their childhood, and the Ivies had defeated the Poppies in the annual Peewee Ranger Games up to three times with their sheer kickball skills. In "Ranger Games," Nguyen and the Poppies prepare to defeat the Ivies for the fourth time in the Peewee Ranger Games, with the assistance of Tabes and more especially Grizz with his cheerleading, and succeeded afterwards after a rough match.
In the end, the Ivies end up losing to Nguyen and the Poppies and Grizz at the final round, much to the Ivies' displeasure (as well as Zhao's).
Trivia[]
- Although unrevealed, Nguyen is of Vietnamese descent.
- Nguyen is described as "quiet and confident" in her character portrait, like Parker. However, both Poppies have different future occupations and personalities from each other.
- Nguyen is the first character in Audrey Huynh's voice actress list, who would go on to voice Stella Cho from XO, Kitty, Kim Jun-hee in the English dub of Squid Game, and the Namashitas from The Boss Baby: Back in Business as the next characters after Nguyen.
- Additionally, Nguyen and Kim Jun-hee are the only heroic characters so far in Audrey Huynh's voice actress list, as Stella Cho from XO, Kitty is a villainous character and the Namashitas from The Boss Baby: Back in Business are considered merely neutral characters.
- Along with this, Nguyen is the first and only character in Audrey Huynh's voice actress list who hails from a television show/cartoon series.
- Nguyen referring Grizz as "Bear Guy" (or "Mr. Bear/Mr. Bear Guy") references the three bears' philanthropic perspective of the human race in the show, despite them being anthropomorphic animals. Many fans find it adorable and endearing (and one of Nguyen's most known traits), especially since Grizz, Panda and Ice Bear are represented to be allegories for minorities and feel "in between" humanity and animals due to being bears with human characteristics, despite not fitting well into society nonetheless due to their species as animals, as confirmed by Daniel Chong,[1] thus making the nickname, "Bear Guy," a philanthropic method of calling Grizz "half bear + half guy/human." However, some criticize it for assuming it to be a bit racist or dismissive, feeling that Grizz is being talked down to and reduced to just his current appearance, although it is very unlikely considering that Nguyen has never talked down to Grizz.
- Nguyen's sheer dancing skills, confident personality, dreaded usage of wielding spikes and being quick to wrath/anger is equivalent to Buttercup's dreaded fighting skills and wrathful personality. Additionally, both characters seem to immediately lose patience in certain events, especially when things mess up/do not got well for them.
- During Nguyen's character portrait, a short fragment of "Piano Sonata," composed by Ludwig van Beethoven, plays briefly with a heightened pitch.
- Nguyen bears a visual resemblance to her voice actress, Audrey Huynh; both have light olive skin complexion, have long black hair with an amalgamation of a slight brown hue.
- Nguyen and Murphy are the only Poppy Rangers to have a resemblance to their respective voice actresses.
References
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