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Oh yes, yes my soldiers. Soon the Black Cauldron will be mine. Its evil power will course through my veins... and I shall make you... Cauldron-born. Yes, oh yes. Then, you will worship ME! Me... oh, my soldiers, how long I have thirsted to be a god among mortal men.
„
~ The Horned King explaining his goal to a bunch of skeletons which would later become his Cauldron Born army.
“
Now I call on my army of the dead: the Cauldron Born! Arise, my messengers of death! Our time has arrived!
„
~ The Horned King's infamous quote, as he begins to summon his undead army.
The Horned King is the main antagonist of Disney's 25th full-length animated feature film The Black Cauldron, an adaptation of the Chronicles of Prydain series overall with the name of the second novel.
He is a treacherous, vindictive, wicked, and spiteful monarch who plans to find the Black Cauldron and use its power to unleash an army of deathless warriors called the Cauldron Born. He is Taran's arch-nemesis.
Go forth, my deathless warriors! Destroy all in your path!
„
~ The Horned King to the Cauldron Born.
The Horned King is in great contrast with his predecessors and successors. While he exhibits the same outwardly arrogant and narcissistic qualities, desiring to become "a god among mortal men", he is very cold, brutal, composed, imperturbable and blasphemous, showing no outward anger until his plan fails at which point he lunges at Taran, believing it to be his doing (on Creeper's suggestion).
He is also quite mysterious and inscrutable, and it is implied that not even his minions appear to know what he is, and is one of the less active villains, his only motion in the film (that is not carried out by his lackeys) is his role in the birth of the Cauldron Born.
He is also shown to have no reservations about his intentions, as he is very open, practicable and nondiscriminatory on his dream of becoming "a god among mortal men" and then wiping out all living things with an undead army. He is notable for seldom exhibiting a sense of humor or giving wicked laughs. On the one occasion he demonstrates a sense of humor, it is notably snide, sarcastic, manipulative and traitorous. Unlike a lot of Disney villains who are instead driven by revenge, he is also driven by personal desire.
Powers and Abilities[]
Although it is implied that the Horned King is a sorcerer of some sort, he actually performs very little magic, only displaying his powers to teleport into his castle's main hall and calling upon the spirit of the Black Cauldron. How he got into the position of King is merely unknown.
Perhaps he was a great warrior or soldier, but then again he is never seen wielding a sword unlike in the book series where he was a warlord wielding a sword. However, he does have great physical strength, as he used that to assault Taran in the climax.
Biography[]
The Black Cauldron[]
The Horned King sitting upon his somewhat ancient-looking throne in Disney's The Black Cauldron.
Unlike in the original novel, The Horned King serves as the main antagonist here. However, the main antagonist was originally to be Arawn. In spite of this, the animators felt that people would prefer him better since he had horns (such as Maleficent and Chernabog). However, in The Black Cauldron, the Horned King is depicted as an elderly and sinister king with gnarled antler horns and a red robe covering undead, green, rotting skin of his body which indicates his appearance to be ghoulish.
The Horned King's Castle
His main plan in the film was to find the Black Cauldron and use its power to unleash an army of undead Cauldron Born. He tries by any means to find the cauldron, such as Princess Eilonwy's magic bauble and Taran's oracular pig named Hen Wen. After the Horned King unleashes his army of Cauldron Born at his castle using the power of the Black Cauldron, Gurgi flings himself into the cauldron to stop the army. After facing off against Taran, he is sucked into the cauldron and perishes. The Horned King has a vast army of servants at his disposal including the troll-like goblin named Creeper, the Huntsmen of Annuvin, the dragon-like creatures known as the Gwythaints, and (of course) his Cauldron Born.
The Black Cauldron has never widely resounded with audiences. In theaters, the film's PG-rated intensity frightened children and upset parents expecting wholesome entertainment from the "Disney" name. However, those who have never avoided it often sing the film's praises, rather than singling it out as one of the weakest animated features in the studio's canon. The Horned King's increased role in the film renders him a treacherous, affecting and scary villain. His efforts to gain possession of the magical titular cauldron are drastic, as he calls forth an army of dead soldiers to find this key to ruling the world. Later, the Horned King while trying to pull himself away from the Black Cauldron before reviving his undead army again, was ultimately destroyed by the power of the very artifact that he now possessed, with him, his plans to dominate all life.
Other Appearances[]
Television[]
The Horned King (who is called "Mr. Cauldron" by Donald Duck) makes appearances in several episodes of House of Mouse. He is also notable to be one of the only characters from The Black Cauldron to appear in the series along with the Cauldron Born.
In "Gone Goofy", he enters the club and shakes hands with Donald.
In "Goofy for a Day", while Goofy sings a song that is a spoof of the song "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from Disney's 1964 film Mary Poppins, he is seen at a table where a penguin waiter serves him his dinner.
In "Max's Embarrassing Date", he sits at a table and laughs with other characters after seeing Goofy fall into a gopher hole dug by Gopher.
He also makes a possible cameo appearance in Mickey's House of Villains, but he does not take part in the takeover.
Video games[]
The Horned King and Creeper as seen in the 1986 videogame The Black Cauldron.
The Horned King appears as both main antagonist and final boss of the 1986 video game adaptation of Disney's The Black Cauldron.
Mickey Mouse vs. The Horned King (as "The Phantom") in Land of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse.
The Horned King appears as the final boss of the 1992 video game Land of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse under the name "The Phantom", having stolen a magical gem from a village and taken away the valley's good magic that protects its once happy inhabitants. He is clad in dark blue and plum robes instead of his red and brown robes. The Horned King's Castle becomes a floating medieval palace in the sky under the name "Cloud Castle", serving as the game's final stage.
The Horned King as seen in the 1989 videogame Mickey Mouse.
The wicked Horned King is the final boss in the 1989 action/puzzle video game Mickey Mouse, in which he is greatly larger than the titular Mickey. In the beginning of the game, he had kidnapped Minnie Mouse, a similar trait shared by a wicked queen named Mizrabel from who have crossed paths with Minnie and Mickey Mouse.
Disney Parks[]
The Horned King appeared along with the Cauldron Born and the Black Cauldron in the Tokyo Disneyland attraction Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour. In this tour styled walk-through attraction, the Horned King is the final Disney villain the guests confront. The tour guide will tell a guest the magic words to defeat the Horned King and his Cauldron Born army. At the end of the tour, the guest was awarded a medal for defeating him. The attraction served as inspiration for the final level of a Tokyo Disneyland-based game on the Super Famicom where Pete played the part of the Horned King.
Quotes[]
Disney's The Black Cauldron[]
“
My, such a brave and handsome crew! A pig boy, a scullery maid, and a broken-down minstrel. Perhaps it may interest you to see what fate has in store for you! (laughing) Now I call on my army of the dead! The cauldron-born! Arise, my messengers of death! Our time has arrived!
„
~ The Horned King's only somewhat jokey line.
“
The Horned King: It can't be! This had better not be your fault! [grabs Creeper by the neck] Creeper: Perhaps it just needs another body, Sire. The Horned King: Yes..... YOURS!!
„
~ The Horned King and Creeper after seeing the Cauldron-Born dying away thanks to Gurgi's sacrifice.
“
GET UP, YOU FOOLS!!! KILL!!
„
~ The Horned King entering his villainous breakdown.
“
The Horned King: You've interfered for the last time! Creeper: Ha ha! Go for his throat, sire! The Horned King: NOW, PIG KEEPER, YOU SHALL DIE!!
„
~ The Horned King swearing to kill Taran for foiling his plans.
“
WHAT'S THIS?!! NO, YOU'LL NOT ESCAPE!!! YOU... SHALL SATISFY THE CAULDRON'S HUNGER!!
„
~ The Horned King throws Taran near the Black Cauldron.
“
No! You'll not have me! MY POWER CANNOT DIE!!! CURSE YOU!!! NO!!! NOOOO!!!!!
„
~ The Horned King's last words as he is sucked into the Black Cauldron.
Trivia[]
He is the first Disney villain to be a king (while Prince John became the king of England, he was chronologically a prince and his subjects only saw him as a phony and Scar overthrew Mufasa to become king).
He is ranked #21 in the Top 30 Disney Villains.
The Horned King is one of the few Disney villains without a song. He shares this trait with the likes of Queen Grimhilde, Maleficent, and Shan-Yu.
In addition, he is the third Disney villain to die at the end of the film following Queen Grimhilde and Maleficent, as well as the first male Disney villain to die.
His name was changed in different dubs across the world:
In the Italian version of The Black Cauldron, Horned King was called Re Cornelius (King Cornelius) because the Italian word for "horned" ("cornuto") also means "a person that has been betrayed by the proper partner".
In the Spanish version, he was called "El Rey del Mal", meaning "The King of Evil".
In The French version, he was called "Le Seigneur des Ténèbres", meaning "The Lord of Darkness".
One of the most disturbing traits of the Horned King is his very own appearance. While the film shows him trying to resurrect the Cauldron Born, he doesn't look human at all. He looks mostly like a living dead due his skeletal appearance in spite of having skin, let aside his horns. Whether he is a horrible-looking human being or a paranormal creature is beyond anyone's speculation. However, the Horned King is implied to have some human characteristics like eating and drinking, as Creeper served him bread and wine during a party at his castle.
The Horned King has one of the most brutal and graphic deaths in an animated Disney film, as the cauldron peeled off his skin, sucked off his bones and exploded him onscreen.
During his death, the Horned King's scream keeps being heard a little time after his body has been entirely destroyed. It might be an animation mistake, but it is also possible that it is meant to imply that he is screaming from his very soul.
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