First of all, nice pic
@DiddyKF1!
Alright, it's Petrie! Everyone's favorite third-person speaker and quivering flyer. Like Ducky, he has a goofy speech impediment which lends him much, much endearment.
I've mentioned this before and even chatted with Sovereign about this once on Discord, but I'll say it again: I personally prefer Jeff Bennett over Will Ryan as Petrie, so much so that the very depiction of Petrie that many of the more enthusiastic fans tend to remember is Bennett and the sequels' take on him — compare "My name Petrie!" in the first film compared to "Me Petrie!" in pretty much all the sequels. There's just something about his more broken English and more childish (and pouty at times) voice in the later sequels just makes him more endearing, and it's usually this more-broken squeaky speech that we remember fondly about him.
Perhaps part of the reason that is so is because the pacing of the first LBT after its script was cut all over the place does not lend itself well to Petrie. Significantly, he lacks a hatch scene when everyone else has one, which means he first appears almost halfway in the film's runtime as a result, and he tends to share scenes with Ducky, who usually steals his thunder as a result. He does get a spectacular end scene with Sharptooth where he learns how to fly at last, but that is probably his singular standout magnum opus scene in the whole film. He's not bad per se, he just doesn't stick out as much.
Petrie in general gets a whole lot more development and the chance to shine in the numerous sequel films, especially in
Stone of Cold Fire and
Great Day of the Flyers where they delve into his history and relationship with his family. In fact, in the sequels in general, they focus on the entire gang as a whole, which coupled with his newfound kinda-overpowered flight as well as his family finally gives him quite the spotlight. Him being the sole one able to fly usually grants him special scenes where the others rely on his aerial abilities. And like countless others have said before me, they also take his trait of being brave when the situation demands for it from the first film and use it in spades. For being such a lovable coward, he really faces up to his fears quite a lot! Seeing those scenes where his face and voice turns determined is always a spectacle to behold.
So yeah, my perspective of Petrie has improved significantly over the years, to the point where he's now my favorite of the whole bunch. In fact, I relate to him a lot — I'm dead terrified of ghosts, heights, and lightning too. So, uh, may the winds be with you forevermore, Petrie!