| “ | I’m not finished with you yet, Willy. Someday, I’ll get my power back! And when I do, everything you own, everything you love... will be mine! | „ |
| ~ Rothbart vowing revenge on King William. |
| “ | Rothbart: No need to shout. Prince Derek: Don't let her die! Rothbart: Is that a threat? Prince Derek: Don't you dare let her die! Rothbart: Ooh! It is a threat. Prince Derek: You're the only one was the power, now do it! |
„ |
| ~ Rothbart says to Prince Derek it was a threat about Odette is dead, and Derek begs to Rothbart to use his powers. |
| “ | Only if you defeat… me. | „ |
| ~ Rothbart's last words to Prince Derek before he transforms into The Great Animal. |
| “ | Rothbart: (growls) You're really start to bug me? Odette: I think you're getting use to it by now. Rothbart: That's it! Just keep pushing it! But Someday, I'm gonna BOIL OVER! Odette: Go ahead then, But I'll never give you my father's kingdom. Rothbart: (grumbling) I was hoping you'll saying if you mind. But… It looks as if another day to think about it! (evil cackle) Odette: No. |
„ |
| ~ Rothbart argues at Odette if he wants to marry her and she refuses and he tells her she will turn into swan by day to think about it. |
Sir Rothbart, also known as Lord Rothbart, The Great Animal, or simply Rothbart for short, is the main antagonist of The Swan Princess film series. He’s a despicable warlock who assassinated King William and was responsible for kidnapping and changing his daughter, Princess Odette into a swan. In Tchaikovsky's ballet, Swan Lake, he’s based on the sorcerer, Von Rothbart, who transformed the actual princess into a swan whilst also planning to have his own daughter marry the prince. He’s Princess Odette and Prince Derek's arch-nemesis.
In the first film, he was voiced by the late Jack Palance. In the third and fourth films, he was voiced by Sean Wright.
What Makes Him a Base Breaking Character?[]
What Do People Like About Him?[]
- He is considered the most popular villain in the franchise among fans for his intelligent, charismatic and devious nature that he had in the first film, and is generally considered cool also because he is presented as a real threat to the heroes despite having comedic moments.
- He has a lot of comedic moments that make him more relatable to others, like his attempts to get Odette to marry him, or the song "No More Mr. Nice Guy" where there are a lot of moments where you can laugh at him.
- Jack Palance does a superb job voicing his character with wild energy and gusto, making him one of the most charismatic villains in Palance's career.
- As mentioned, while he is a pretty funny villain, he also has his serious and dark moments, most often when he transforms into the Great Animal.
- He's captivating in how well he can change his tone - one moment he's comical, the next he's sinister - and how competent he is as a villain, since he almost succeeded in his plan, and the only reason he lost was because of the animal sidekicks of heroes. Without them, he could have easily killed Derek and won.
- Even in the godless fourth part he did everything more or less competently, first returning to life, and then, becoming human again, taking over the kingdom and destroying the Christmas tree - the symbol of Christmas, in order to weaken everyone's spirit.
- In the first part he had some honor when he told Derek that Odette would come to her senses if he defeated him, which is what happened in the end.
- Overall, he has earned his popularity for what he deserves due to him fullfilling his main and primary role - being a threat to the heroes and being a true villain (but it is worth noting that this only applies to the first part).
What Do People Hate About Him?[]
- Unlike Clavius, who although had the cliched "Take Over the World" motive, had a clear reason for doing so and had a tragic backstory to explain it, Rothbart has none of that and just wants to take over King William's kingdom because he wants to and that's it. Additionally, he has no clear reason for doing so and it's not even mentioned in other parts of the series.
- While Odette's birth was a reason he took action to get William's kingdom for himself, it was too small a reason and didn't really tell us why he wanted power anyway.
- Furthermore, while the fifth installment of the series does explain that the Forbidden Arts promised Rothbart power in exchange for killing the Swan Princess (Odette), this is a highly questionable reason because it contradicts the events of the first installment so much that it can only be considered a canonical explanation with great difficulty.
- While Odette's birth was a reason he took action to get William's kingdom for himself, it was too small a reason and didn't really tell us why he wanted power anyway.
- The plot twist with the chest being used to return Rothbart as a ghost in the fourth installment, which for some reason is in Queen Uberta's castle, is so far-fetched that it creates a bunch of plot holes in the franchise, even breaking the chronology of events, because it is unclear how Rothbart was able to push his chest into Uberta's castle and how he even thought of it if he could not imagine that such a miracle would happen.
- In the fourth installment, he was infamously flanderized from a power hungry warlock into a copy of the Grinch, who hates Christmas and wants everyone to be miserable, since it directly affects his powers.
- Obviously, this is sucked out of a finger to fit the spirit of the work, but this in no way justifies Rothbart's derailment from a clear villain into a pathetic caricature of the Grinch, completely turning him into a laughing stock.
- Additionally, his intelligence has been decreased in the fourth film as well, as demonstrated when he became idiotic as his plan to get rid of Christmas is poorly executed since the idea of getting rid of Christmas in the kingdom is very unreasonable.
- What makes this even worse is that he was defeated with a Christmas carol, and not just by the victors, but killed in what is the most shameful death in the history of villains, and Rothbart was understandably disgraced by such a fate.
- He rather foolishly betrayed Clavius and Zelda (from the two sequels to the first movie), who were loyal to him (he was Clavius' best friend, and Zelda's favorite student), which made them both turn evil and eventually both hated him. This is stupid because if Rothbart had teamed up with them, he could have easily taken over not only William and Uberta's kingdom, but all of Britain. So he chose the hardest path for himself, abandoning those who were truly loyal to him.
- This also indirectly makes him responsible for their crimes, as Clavius and Zelda wanted to surpass Rothbart by wiping his nose, which caused the heroes a lot of trouble.
- Overall, due to the fourth film flanderizing Rothbart as a dimwitted copy of the Grinch, it was one of the reasons why most people and fans of the first three films of the franchise hated the 3D sequels and decided to consider them non-canon, because they found it hard to imagine that these films had any connection to the first part and the sequels, which, while not perfect, were not as obvious as the 3D sequels.
External Links[]
- Rothbart on the Villains Wiki
- Rothbart on the Villainous Benchmark Wiki
- Rothbart on the Swan Princess Wiki
[]
 Base Breaking Characters
| ||
|
Animated Films Live Action Films Harry Potter DC Extended Universe MonsterVerse Other Animated Television Ed, Edd n Eddy The Grim Adventure of Billy and Mandy Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends Ben 10 Transfomers: Animated Adventure Time Regular Show Ninjago The Amazing World of Gumball Uncle Grandpa ThunderCats (2011) Teen Titans Go! Steven Universe We Bare Bears Rick and Morty Smiling Friends Clarence Food Wars! Final Space Infinity Train Other Live Action Television Supernatural The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon Game of Thrones Arrowverse Gotham Other Webseries RWBY Other Video Games | ||
 Base Breaking Characters
| ||
|
Animated Films Other Live Action Films MCU Spider-Man Sony's Spider-Man Universe Other Animated Television Live Action Television Community Cobra Kai Other | ||