The Beljars
The Beljars. Four ordinary men stuck in an extraordinary world. A prophecy needs fulfilling, and they're the only ones who can fulfill it. Ian, Sebastian, Harrison and Elliott; Thinker, Speaker, Knower, Doer; each of them unique, all of them Beljars.
Ian Xavier (bottom left; played by Kyle MacLachlan): In the opening words of the novel upon which this movie is based, "Ian Xavier Beljar of Irving, Montana was thirty-six and had the patience of a saint." He is the oldest Beljar. Brother to Elliott, he's more down-to-earth than his sibling, and is "the only Beljar in history to become an accountant." This by no means pegs him as boring, however. He is as nonchalant as they come, but deep down, he is confused by many things in this world and only hopes that someday he can make sense of everything.
Sebastian Ford (bottom right; played by Greg Kinnear): Sebastian is the doubter among the Beljars. He is grounded in the world of reality and is not quite prepared to leave it; he is the only one of them to demand an explanation upon their arrival at the strange setting.
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He is the second oldest of the Beljar cousins at thirty-four, and an English professor at Loch Raven University in London. He speaks whatever is on his mind, be it relevant or not, be it sarcastic or serious. Though very intelligent, he sometimes has difficulty with the abstract things in life, but does not admit it.
Harrison Ichabod (top right, played by Hank Azaria): Harrison is the Beljar with a past. At thirty-three, he has lived through the drowning deaths of his parents and sister, and then the murder of his wife Meredith at the hands of unknown assassins. These tragedies have left him thoughtful and quiet, often letting his eyes or his actions speak rather than his words. Though he is the tallest Beljar (standing two inches above Ian at six-foot-five), he is the one who fades most easily into the background. Often, even his cousins forget that he is there, but when he does speak, his words carry power. His intelligence knows no bounds; schooling was a breeze for him, and very few subjects pose a threat. Despite his reluctance to speak, he finds solace in teaching, and after his attempt at a career as a science professor didn't take, he switched to literature, like Sebastian.
Elliott Algernon (top left, played by Matthew Broderick): He is the youngest Beljar at thirty-one. He is the dreamer, the abstract one in the family. He is a musician (adept at violin, mandolin, piano, and has "a fair enough voice, when you get right down to it"), a novelist ("he knew that in his spare time he had written a few wonderfully outlandish tales... [and] gotten them published"), and a philosopher ("several times a day he thought about what life was, and then decided it was too much for him to tackle at the time being"). If there is something that needs to be done, Elliott will do it and not ask questions. He idolizes his brother Ian, though he finds him a bit difficult to understand.
The Supporting Characters:
Galen D'Oftrea
Luro D'Oftrea
Lady Iseth Thornsberry
Nona
Ananayel