Agatha Trunchbull | |
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Matilda character | |
![]() Pam Ferris as Ms Trunchbull in Matilda (1996). | |
First appearance | Matilda (1988) |
Created by | Roald Dahl |
Portrayed by | |
In-universe information | |
Gender | Female |
Occupation | School headmistress / principal |
Family |
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Nationality | British |
Ms Agatha Trunchbull, also known as Ms Trunchbull, or simply The Trunchbull, is the fictional headmistress of Crunchem Hall Primary School (or Elementary School), and the main antagonist in Roald Dahl's 1988 novel Matilda and its adaptations: the 1996 film Matilda (played by Pam Ferris), the 2011 musical, and the 2022 musical film adaptation (played by Emma Thompson). She is said to look "more like a rather eccentric and bloodthirsty follower of the stag-hounds than the headmistress of a nice school for children".[1]
Ms Trunchbull is depicted as an unwholesome role model, a fierce tyrannical monster who "frightened the life out of pupils and teachers alike", notorious for her cruel and wildly idiosyncratic discipline, with trivial misdeeds (including simply wearing pigtails) incurring punishments up to potentially-fatal physical discipline.