You aren’t the only one. There are a number of Randall fans.
I think he’s super sexy too. I always did. I was 17 when the movie originally came out…so yeah. XD I’m 28 now.
He’s my favorite MI, and pixar character in general. I’ve had a crush on him since I first saw the movie when it came out. Wow, I’ve liked him for 12 years. That’s the longest time I’ve ever had a crush. I liked him from the very first scene he was in.
Same here! I always had a crush on him and liked him since the first scene when I saw him.
I didn’t really give into the crush as much at first though…for a while I felt kind of weird about being attracted to Randall. LOL.
I do! He’s my favorite character from Monsters, Inc.
Actually, I’ve liked him a lot more and more over the years. I used to just not like any villain characters from any movie, but then I found out that many were very interesting. Even if he’s a jerk, he’s still pretty cool about how he can camouflage and I really he has really cool shades of purple. I am very interested to see what he will do in Monsters University!
Randall is simply epic! Apart from his slightly sadistic personality, I love him!
Haha, slightly sadistic?
Make that HALF sadistic XD
I like him. 
Mostly because of his reptilian looks, and his ability to change colours is nifty too. Even if he is kind of a jerk I really like his visual design and he seems to get a bit of backstory as well in Monsters University.
I know next to nothing about Monsters U, but I do love how dorky and even friendly he looks like in his college days (maybe it’s those big eyes and goofy glasses). He looks real unpleasant and meaner as his older self in Monsters Inc, but he’s certainly one of Pixar’s best antagonists!
Randall is, at heart, a good guy. Friendly, supportive, helpful…even if he’s really is shy, confident, and uncertain. But of course, life throws good people bad things that they can’t control. Of course, 10 years doesn’t boil down to a single moment…several, but not a single. Unfortunate one of them happens to him when he was just a kid, and it’s something important for someone that young.
shrugs Funny, and some people think Randall’s the cheater…
This movie is going to make me cry I know it.
Uh… really? Unfortunately, I don’t see how a reptile could be that attractive (let alone “sexy”), but his character and chameleon abilities are what make him appealing to a considerable fanbase. I never liked him at first, but MU has kinda changed that. CUPCAKES PLEASE!!!
Randall’s not a “reptile”, though. He just has superficially reptilian characteristics. We see him running around in MU during January, in what is apparently the Midwest(based on Dan Scanlon’s hometown in Michigan), and there’s still icicles hanging from the trees, so it’s cold on the day of Scare Games sign-ups. Randall, though, is active and comfortable(physically, at least), while his ROR boss is wearing two layers of clothing(and in one scene, THREE) over FUR, so clearly Randall is a warm-blooded being, unlike a reptile.
But yeah, he’s still sexy, lol. When he’s happy and feeling good, like when he’s helping Mike study, that smile could light up a room.
pitbulllady
Having browsed fanart and done some research on many MU/MI fans opinions, I guess that the appeal that Randall has is that despite Sulley being at the top, he is THE ultimate bedroom monster; you sit in your bed, afraid something will come to get you or frighten you the least, and not even being able to see it, even though it’s there. I mean, Sulley’s roar would freak out anyone, especially since you wouldn’t expect such loud roaring from a beast that is so gentle and cuddly, let alone polka-dotted (Even Johnny is more believable!).
But Randall… just knowing his iridescent, shimmering serpentine form could coil himself around you, and you’d feel as if you’re being Force-choked. Probably even just seeing his grin floating on your wall, and then flickering away, leaving you thinking, “There’s something in here, but I don’t know what it is!!!” Someone over on the anime fanart site Zerochan even said “This guy is the reason I slept with a night light for 10 years.”: zerochan.net/1412950
As terrifying as he is to very young children, Randall nevertheless captivates a wide portion of the fanbase because of how he was designed to be: invisible to your eyes, but you knowing that he’s out to get you, and leaving you trembling in the comfort of your bed. He is scary indeed, but also very graceful in how he swirls himself so rapidly, yet so fluid.
Of course, in MU, we do see a very different Randall at the start of the movie. In a way, not to sound like an anime otaku, but I believe Pixar decided to give the Randall fans a bit of fan service, but I mean that in a positive way. The reason I’m referring to Randall’s depiction as being fan service is because probably Pixar knew how popular he was, and decided to make his character in such a way that now made him appealing on a new basis; now he’s adorable, sweet-natured, and has a talent for baking (as a sidenote, in anime, a character who is attractive because he/she wears glasses is usually referred to as a megane character; megane-kun if a guy and meganekko if a girl), therefore actually boosting his fanbase and gaining new fans (not to mention the heart print!). By definition, fan service means anything done to amuse an audience (usually visually), and boy, did he amuse many die-hard fans! But just like watching the Star Wars prequels, you know what he had to become in order to get to Monsters, Inc.
And so, that’s my take on Randall’s popularity. I’ve heard rumors here and there that he should get his own movie as a sequel to MI, but only time (and Pixar) will tell. 
Sulley’s top record aside, Randall IS a very skilled and experienced Scarer. The Scare Game final is, of course, no judgement on just how good he is. Even when not in top condition, he manages to do his job very well.
As you detailed, Randall possess the ability to scare in a way that other Scarers can’t. Being able to play on the dormant fears and unlimited power of imagination to drive that scream out. It’s like that saying along the lines of “it’s scarer with what you don’t see”. Your imagination runs wild, perhaps even thinking something is more frightening than it is.
I’m not sure of the weight of this captivation towards the fanbase (having been in it since inception, I would know), and given that the fanbase has been afflicted through MU…I can’t give a proper tally. Some just downright find Randall attractive. I believe somebody else here will give you the “poetry in motion” line about how he “moves about”.
As for the service…maybe it was. But it’s still in-character for Randall. While his distaste for Sullivan wasn’t solely from college/Scare Games, he does develop from a nice, considerate person who gets the life-kick and gets barred down.
He deserved to show how he really was. That that “Randy” is a part of him. Even though for some fans, seeing how the train-wreck came on, it was a hurt waiting to happen. Necessary hurt, but there it is.
As for his own film, it’s credible. He’s really the only secondary to return in-person in MU (though secondary is debatable hehe), he WASN’T originally playable in Disney Infinity (he got added into the first batch later), and it seems Pixar is in gear to set things up.
Personally I’ve seen to engage in sequel methods…and yes…it’s quite possible. After all, his story isn’t the only one…Sullivan and Wazowski’s aren’t over either.
Exactly; the fear of the Unknown is the deepest, most-primal fear that we have. Sometimes it’s what you DON’T see that is most terrifying. We really see that concept well-illustrated in MU, in the scene at the human camp. Mike, who himself is about as scary as a walnut, effectively primes the park rangers into such a vulnerable mode to be terrified by Sulley by relying on that fear of the Unknown. He uses props like the doll walking across the floor by itself, the phonograph playing all by itself, and takes a cue from his idol, Frank McCray, by scratching on the beds. The rangers have no logical explanation for any of that, and become terrified, even though they never even catch a glimpse of the cause. Had Mike not done that, and had Sulley just jumped out with that roar, they’d have dealt with him the same way they’d have dealt with a charging bear, which is what they initially were expecting, and Sulley would have gotten a .45 ACP “makeover”, end of story. As it was, whatever was happening, it wasn’t something that the rangers could deal with, not something you shoot or pepper spray, so they reacted by screaming like little kids! Randall relies on that same technique to instill fear; you know that SOMETHING is there, but can find no logical explanation for it, so your mind just kicks into that terror mode. I’d imagine that to scare many of the children, Randall never even had to reveal himself fully, because I do know that a lot of kids list “ghosts” as one of the things they’re most afraid of, and hearing this disembodied chuckle, hearing something unseen whisper your name, seeing inanimate objects move seemingly on their own-THAT would be pretty disconcerting even for most adults!
Now, I would like to think that Randall’s inclusion in MU was not mere fan-service. That really seems rather cheap, and not something that Pixar would do. If Scanlon only wanted to include him as fan-service, something just to acknowledge Randall’s very large and loyal fan-base, he could have simply shown him in the background and not even had any lines for him at all, let alone any character development. I’m really hoping that there’s more to it than that. Mr. Scanlon has already strongly hinted that there will be another “Monsters” movie, eventually, and as you said, Randall is the only one of the Main Three-himself, Sulley and Mike-who has appeared AND had a role in both “Monsters” movies so far, but has not gotten HIS movie yet. I would love nothing more than for Pixar to adapt the Circle 7 Studios script and make it their own, but keep Randall’s role that was written for that sequel-that-never-was, and bring things back to how most of the original scripts for MI were written, with him, Mike and Sulley as a “Power Trio” rather than bitter rivals, who find out that working together accomplishes a whole lot more than opposing each other. There NEEDS to be closure for that, for Randall’s fans to know what happened to him, and to see him at least get partially back to “Randy”, in as much as someone who has been through what he’s been through and done what he’s done can, but there also needs to be closure on the part of Mike and Sulley, too; THEY need to be able to forgive, and Boo would be a perfect catalyst for that to happen.
pitbulllady
You know, I just had a random thought on Randall as of lately.
Now, here’s a point of view that may be met with criticism (no flames, please!), but in a way, although Randall was a pretty brutal antagonist, at the same time, in a way, he is also a hero in the movie.
To start with, I base my conclusion on his statement to Mike in the Scream Extractor scene, when he says, “I’m gonna revolutionize the scream industry.”
At the end of the day, Randall actually did accomplish this, and not just the scream industry, but the whole energy industry as a whole. Sure, it was Sulley who discovered the laugh energy, but here’s why Randall gets some credit: Had he not left Boo’s door on the scare floor in the first place, Boo wouldn’t have entered the monster world at all, and thus Sulley wouldn’t have discovered the strength of a child’s laughter. Basically, all the events in the movie (including Randall’s after hours cheating) ended up working together for good to find a humane solution to the main problem, the scream shortage.
So in the end, Randall did (albeit indirectly) revolutionize the industry, just not in the way that Waternoose had envisioned it, which was actually illegal and inhumane. Both he (Randall) and Sulley get credit for solving the shortage.
One big correction here(not a flame): Randall was NOT cheating! Not after-hours, not any time. The Scream Extractor was not connected to the Scare Board so no Screams collected with that machine would have counted towards Randall’s, or anyone’s, totals. Randall was working after-hours because he needed a human child as a test “lab rat” to determine if the Scream Extractor even worked, and he could not risk just going in and getting a “toxic” child with everyone else still on the Scare Floor, now could he? THAT was the only illegal thing about what he was doing; he was going to bring in a creature that was perceived as toxic, dangerous and horribly threatening to monsters: a human child. Their laws had nothing to do with protecting human kids from “kidnapping” or “inhumane” treatment, but protecting monsters against human children! The official protocol upon finding a human child was to KILL IT, even blowing up an entire restaurant to accomplish this, so “humane” treatment of human children did not play any part in Monster World laws! The only reason that there was any legal issues with what Randall was doing were due to the presumed threat those horrible children posed to the Monster World.
Randall never did cheat. His involvement with the Scream Extractor had NOTHING to do with the Scare competition or the All-Time Scare Record, and he even says so himself. Randall is trying to get around that, to finally find a way to earn recognition and acceptance and respect, that he’s been seeking since before he even came to MU. He has not been able to do that working as a Scarer because he’s been constantly overshadowed by someone that HE has known to be a cheater from college, and I’m referring to Sulley. Randall believes that Sulley cheated to beat him in the Scare Games Scare competition, when Sulley caused Randall to fall by stomping on the floor, and intentional or not, that should not have been allowed to stand. Later, surely Randall would have found out that Sulley really DID cheat, and was even later arrested, so that would have clinched in his mind that Sulley was dishonest, but still loved by everyone because of his family name. Randall’s attitude towards Sulley can be summed up by MIKE’S words out at the lake: "Monsters like you can mess up again and again and everyone will still love you!" Randall is just going to invent a new way to get Scream, one that Sulley can’t succeed at; he’s circumventing the whole process of Scaring altogether, negating Sulley’s accomplishments as a Scarer. Indeed, Randall nearly flips out when Mike(who started the whole “Big Lie” of Randall cheating) accuses him of “cheating” because he HATES cheating and believes that Sulley is STILL cheating in order to stay on top, and getting away with it. I can’t blame him for thinking that way, considering that Sulley was beating Power Ball Jackpot odds just in getting “Employee of the Month” for 11 months straight, out of what was probably hundreds of thousands of employees altogether. NO one is that good at anything! Sulley gets 100 points for filling his Scream canister, while Randall only gets 75 for doing the exact same thing! No one can tell me that SOMETHING unfair and unethical wasn’t going on behind the scenes to make sure Sulley stayed on top of the Scare Board and everything else; it’s just that Randall missed the mark in his believing that it was Sulley who responsible. Sulley was just another pawn on the chess board along with Randall, a tool being used by the one in real power: Waternoose.
pitbulllady
I see PBL got here before me just as I was typing this up hehehe…
I wouldn’t call Randall “brutal”…but I wouldn’t call him a “hero” either (maybe at first, he can become one, but mostly in “anti-hero” it’s dependable).
Randall’s goal had it’s personal gains (mostly on things he figured he “needed”, and nobody else bothered to give it to him, those things being what most people need to live), but yes, a large part of it was to be the one to make things better for the city.
Doing this does two things. One, Randall expected it would get him the admiration and respect he deserved (which he had had at one point earlier in his life and it was taken from him), and, like everyone would want, to actually live decently enough instead of going paycheck-to-paycheck with no real support structure.
Two, it fixes a problem the city was having. We’re talking shortages and city-wide blackouts. Read newspapers. It was a problem…and back-up generators aside, imagine if hospitals and the like were affected. Energy is used everyday, and when one of your main suppliers is doing it’s best and yet not meeting demand…a solution needs to be found.
Now, not going into the whole “humans are animals to monsters basically” thing…but at the basis, humans were a resource, and the practical method of scareing was becoming less and less effective as the march of industrial progress went on. It needed to be improved. Hence, the extractor.
Now…this machine took time to make…and the seemingly-questionable nature of it’s use made it’s construction essential to be put under the radar. So, Waternoose had Randall (and suggestibility Fungus depending) make it. If he screwed up, the blue-collar would take the fall, not the boss. Randall was easy to put in a position where he’d see the machine as his only means to get what he felt he needed, so he stuck with it. No harm really…he was being supplied company parts by Waternoose to build it…and all it really took, at first, was countless nights, loss of sleep, probably no spared attention for health in general, and keeping his mouth shut. Oh yes, and doing his normal job along with it.
Now, Randall may not seem the easiest to work with…but he’s an honest worker at least. He managed to do his job and work on the extractor, all the time thinking of the end goal that he’d get what he’d need.
Then…testing.
Of course, making a machine like the extractor took time, naturally…but it also had to be efficent and SAFE. Killing a human child wouldn’t just be stupid, and dangerous it would be a waste in terms of an energy provider. That’s probably a reason why Randall was taking so long, making sure it wouldn’t do that…Waternoose would probably care less though, as he would do anything to keep his hands on his CEO position and not “dishonor” what his father/grandfather held.
Essentially what this thing would do is forcibly extract scream energy from a child…presumably producing at 15 times the power (as the extractor, if I recall, was hooked to 15 separate canisters) one door venture would make. Now the effects seem to be an extreme “out of breath” sensation, obviously, with depleted sensation and the subject being drained of…well…energy. Aside from that, a few minutes later the subject would be fine. (This comes from Fungus who, being on the receiving end, was fit for a chase moments after his event. As monsters have similar make-ups to humans for the most part, his result would be similar for a child).
The machine, itself, seems to be an answer to the problem alright. Improving energy production by 1500% (I think somewhere around there) per venture? That’s a no brainer. Debaters on human subjects however, might find the machine to be dangerous to put into practice…but then again, so is for a monster, trainer or not, to go into a door himself. By the time the prototype was completed, and tested, it would be revealed as the only way to solve the problem. By then, blackouts would have been more apparent. Whether through understanding the extractor’s benefits…or desperation from citizens…it would be accepted.
Whether Randall would be shown as a “hero” or not…depends on what exactly Waternoose allows.
Sorry, a bit of a ramble there…not a completed one, but figured to clear up a bit.
In the end, there was no way Randall would be aware that laugh energy even existed. He was trained to scare children and he was really really good at it. Not having much laughter himself in his life, he probably didn’t enjoy things too much as other people. The event of him getting a child to laugh near an energy using source was…very unlikely.
I DO find it a bit unnerving though…rather unprofessional…for Randall to leave the door like that. If I recall, it was his station…Mary was in his list of kids…and he left the door on. Mary could have come through on her own if she had the mind to. Sure, maybe most monsters think human kids aren’t so stupid as to open the closet door (ok, Mary did in the end, but she knew what was back there)…but still, a veteran like him…
Still…I guess he was at the end-game, grabbing the test subject…it was late, he was tired, feeling sick, he just wanted to get it over with and it skipped his mind. We all have a moment like that where we just drop the ball. And yeah…because he dropped the ball, it all happened.
Earlier, when he was at the top of the board, Randall probably wasn’t too absent from working a little overtime at night for a few extra cans for everyone…so him being there probably wouldn’t faze anybody (such as Roz, who may have been thinking WAZOWSKI was mixed up in things…given…well…his record ahem). Sullivan didn’t notice it was a door in Randall’s station, but then again Sullivan’s not really good at noticing things.
It’s all really a bunch of connections. If Wazowski hadn’t forgotten to file his paperwork (again), he wouldn’t have had Sullivan go and get it. If Randall hadn’t picked that night to finish things, the door wouldn’t be there (I can imagine him setting the door up and then realizing “oh crap, I forgot the container” and just sighing it off to get it), Sullivan wouldn’t have opened it and taken Boo, which led to city-wide panic and…well we know the rest.
I’m not sure if Randall would get credit…he DID want to revolutionize the industry for personal reasons…and it would have worked if Sullivan hadn’t bumbled into things. At the core of it, none of them expected what was going to happen.
Though, do have to remember there was a chance for a “reset button” moment, if Sullivan had followed along with Wazowski to take Randall’s offer to just “leave the kid and walk away”.
In the end, it was the two “heroes” of the moment who got credit. It’s hard to say what may have happened to Randall if the Scream Extractor went through…Sullivan would be below him, naturally, where a (to Randall) “cheater” belongs…as for Wazowski…well who knows, maybe Randall surprisingly would have made him his assistant or something (lower position than him, yes, but higher than a scare assistant. Though on Randall’s part that’s ignoring his legendary lack of paperwork finesse Wazowski has…but maybe he’d ignore it for a reason.). But of course, that’s up to Waternoose.
Then again, it’s not like the Laugh Energy thing, as I’ve said many a time before, is a happy ending either. Maybe the two should have taken Randall’s offer earlier…they’re going to be dealing with a lot of issues…
Also…yes, Randall never intended to hurt anybody. He wanted to be the good guy. Sure, he comes off abrasive and moody, but we’ve all seen what he is at heart…a friendly, considerate, helpful guy who got the short end of the stick. Eventually…people who keep trying to keep themselves together snap…and unfortunately, he did.