The sheer scale of the disaster is outlined quite accurately in the film, with several additions and deletions to make Titanic palatable to most audiences. It was a tour de force upon release and continues to impact the way blockbusters are made even today.
Director James Cameron has made many masterpieces, but Titanic outshines most of them, in no small part due to the plethora of fascinating characters living their best 1912 lives aboard the greatest ship ever made. Here are some of the most important roles in the movie, aligned according to their most likely sign of the Chinese Zodiac.
Rat - Rose DeWitt Bukater
Rose starts off "dating" Cal, but soon shifts her attention to the charming Jack Dawson, exhibiting the determined properties of the Rat (as well as its rejection of tradition and societal norms.) She is an overpowering character when allowed to express herself to the fullest, going from demure debutante to full-on pornographic painting.
The young Rose has imprinted herself on her so-called savior, whose unwashed vibes are powerful enough to take her on an exhilarating new journey, all with her complete consent, of course.
Ox - Rose Dawson Calvert
The ancient Rose, 101 years old when the wreck of the Titanic is discovered in 1996, wants a little more than to merely relive her youthful indiscretions aboard the ship.
The Ox within her is as tenacious as it is traditional, which is observed in her holding on to Jack long after his death (through the prized diamond necklace that the entire oceanographic mission revolves around.) Did she have to flush away (approximately) a hundred million dollars though?
Tiger - Molly Brown
One of the more fiery characters, the nouveau riche woman known as Molly Brown, is the dominating Tiger, the only sign of the Chinese Zodiac that gives as much and as vigorously as it receives.
She doesn't care much about the aesthetics of "appearing wealthy," the main reason that her elitist co-passengers snub her at every chance they get. Molly would be the first to scoff at the very idea, not because it's false, but because she knows exactly how those people think.
Rabbit - Lizzy Calvert
Lizzy Calvert, Rose's granddaughter, shows herself to be a warm, generous, and giving individual, always ready with a friendly smile.
As a Rabbit, it is her patience and sense of responsibility that shines brightest and is clearly visible in how well she takes care of her grandmother's needs. However, while Lizzy's persistence is admirable, she can get just a little too overprotective at times, especially when Rose is involved.
Dragon - Ruth DeWitt Bukater
Ruth DeWitt Bukater holds on to the nostalgia of a bygone era when men were men and women did what was demanded of them (obey their parents and worship their husbands).
She is a pure Dragon, bursting with pride and dignity in her status, but simultaneously manipulating her only child to the point of driving her away from her permanently. This doesn't mean that she is cruel, necessarily, but it is obvious that she expects Rose to conform to the same traditional roles enforced on her own self.
Snake - Edward John Smith
Edward John Smith was the actual captain of the Titanic and is said to have gone under with his vessel (willingly albeit with a feeling of deep loss in his heart.) He blames himself for the disaster, which is not really surprising for the loner Snake, even though it was not his duty to keep a lookout for stray icebergs.
Smith is largely inscrutable, preferring to retain his most private thoughts and emotions for his own perusal, a trait of his that is at least somewhat responsible for what happens at the end.
Horse - Brock Lovett
The Horse is best known for its dynamic attitudes towards life: if they fall, they get back up to try again, and again, until their mission is complete. Brock Lovett, after his ardent search for the Titanic and the Heart of the Ocean fails, is quite a sorry mess, but his energy rapidly returns when he hears that the "woman in the painting" is still alive and open to meeting with him.
He might be, to a small extent, selfish about his goals, but he puts his dreams aside in order to absorb the romantic atmosphere surrounding Rose's story.
Goat - John Jacob Astor IV
Based off the real-life person who perished on board the ship in 1912, John Jacob Astor IV is a typical Goat — his stupendous wealth notwithstanding, the man was more interested in maintaining friendships than looking down his nose at people poorer than himself (which, to be honest, included everyone on board.)
Astor does cultivate his presence to a fine degree, but the reason for this lies in the intractability of habit, in comparison with active condescension.
Monkey - Jack Dawson
Jack, played to perfection by Leo DiCaprio, is able to switch between coarse third-class passenger and charismatic boy toy with nothing more than a new set of clothes and some hair pomade.
Being a Monkey, he is not very interested in the high life but is willing to go through the whole song-and-dance routine if it helps him net Rose at the end of it (little does he know that she desires him desperately.) Being the playful type, he drags Rose on adventures she finds most eccentric, like hooking up in a cargo car or practicing long-distance spitting,
Rooster - Caledon Hockley
The heir to some old money, Cal assumes the world is built to serve his very needs, and anything can be bought for the right price. The Rooster in him is both arrogant and disdainful of others, simply because he was lucky enough to be born into his family's incredible wealth.
He is surprisingly charming; at first, Rose doesn't seem too put off by his overtures and diamond-gifting, but when Jack Dawson emerges as actual competition, Cal exposes his self-centeredness almost instantly.
Dog - Fabrizio De Rossi
The Dog happens to be Fabrizio, the Italian man first seen hanging out with Jack before getting on the Titanic (and later disappears into the dregs of the third deck.)
He is undeniably devoted to his pal, helping him out in one risky scenario involving class-based prejudice over lifeboat assignments — the rich get them, the poor don't. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't survive the end of the film, getting himself killed by a falling smokestack cover in the original ending, and by Cal Hockley in the alternative one.
Pig - The Strauses
Pigs are among the most loving signs of the Chinese Zodiac, and desire, more than anything else, to share their emotions with others. In this case, the elderly husband-wife couple, Isidor and Ida Straus, find that it is too much effort to get rescued, mostly because they believe that younger people would be better served by the few life jackets available.
Therefore, they calmly and stoically accede to what fate has in store for them, and without a hint of hesitation, let themselves be washed away by the surging waves.