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* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: While he was pissed at Ernesto for stealing his songs, he ''never imagined'' his old friend would have stooped so low as to murder him in order to claim his songs for himself, and is devastated when he learns the truth.
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* MysteriousParent: Was the faceless and nameless father who abandoned Coco before the events of the film. He also serves as a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype of this, because his absence devastated the Rivera family and caused a generations-long ban of music. The film explores his death, the consequences of his absence and the way his family coped with it.
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* MysteriousParent: Was the faceless and nameless father who abandoned Coco before the events of the film. He also serves as a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of this, because his absence devastated the Rivera family and caused a generations-long ban of music. The film explores his death, the consequences of his absence and the way his family coped with it.
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* DespairSpeech: Goes along with the above. Héctor mourns to Miguel that he never should have left his family, and that now he has no chance to see his beloved daughter again, much less make things right with her.
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* DespairSpeech: Goes along with the above. While going through his DespairEventHorizon, Héctor mourns to Miguel that he never should have left his family, and that now he has no chance to see his beloved daughter again, much less make things right with her.
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Merging Ernesto back as per this thread
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[[Characters/CocoErnestoDeLaCruz Has his own page]]
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/olmoscoco.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: "Like the time you promised to bring back my van? Or my mini-fridge? Or my good napkins? My lasso? My femur?!"]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/EdwardJamesOlmos (English), Creator/VictorTrujillo (Latin American Spanish)[[note]]'''Other Languages:''' Katsuhisa Hōki (Japanese), So Cheong-hwan (Korean), Peter Groeger (German), Guy Nadon (Canadian French), Patrick Raynal (European French)[[/note]]
A "friend" of Héctor's, living with all the other skeletons who do not get offerings on Día de los Muertos. He is forgotten and [[DeaderThanDead disappears for good]] shortly after he is introduced.
[[Characters/CocoErnestoDeLaCruz Has his own page]]
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[[/folder]]
[[folder:Chicharrón]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/olmoscoco.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: "Like the time you promised to bring back my van? Or my mini-fridge? Or my good napkins? My lasso? My femur?!"]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/EdwardJamesOlmos (English), Creator/VictorTrujillo (Latin American Spanish)[[note]]'''Other Languages:''' Katsuhisa Hōki (Japanese), So Cheong-hwan (Korean), Peter Groeger (German), Guy Nadon (Canadian French), Patrick Raynal (European French)[[/note]]
A "friend" of Héctor's, living with all the other skeletons who do not get offerings on Día de los Muertos. He is forgotten and [[DeaderThanDead disappears for good]] shortly after he is introduced.
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[[Characters/CocoErnestoDeLaCruz Has his own page]]
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[[/folder]]
[[folder:Chicharrón]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.
[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.
[[caption-width-right:350: "Like the time you promised
[[caption-width-right:270: "I have to
[[caption-width-right:270:[[labelnote:Click here to see Ernesto when he was alive]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c353bcfd_ece8_49f2_b679_ba18459c499c.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Voiced by:'''
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* AgonyOfTheFeet: At the end of "La Llorona", Imelda stomps on his foot and he screams in agony as she takes back Héctor's photo during the Sunrise Spectacular.
* AllForNothing: He's willing to do anything to seize his moment, even murdering his best friend Héctor for his songs and covering up his crimes so that he'll be remembered as the greatest musician in life and death. He ends up dying prematurely when a bell accidentally crushed him at the height of his career, and then his crimes are exposed by Héctor's descendant Miguel, destroying his reputation overnight. In the end, Ernesto's legacy is a disgraced and abandoned tomb, with his memory becoming nothing more than an accessory to Héctor's story.
* AmbitionIsEvil: Ernesto only became the star he was after he murdered Héctor and stole his songs.
* AndIMustScream: His status by the end of the film is crushed beneath a bell and still alive in the Land of the Dead, both worlds know him to be a murderer and it is doubtful anyone in the Land of the Dead is going to get that bell off him.
** Even if Ernesto escapes the bell, according to Lee Unkrich, he'll still be remembered for his movies. This means that he's essentially trapped in the Land Of The Dead with the knowledge that he's disgraced in both worlds forever, and he can't even commit suicide. Perhaps one of the most family-friendly depictions of Hell for a villain in media.
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: Everyone in the Land of the Dead rejoiced after Ernesto is exposed as a fraud/murderer and gets crushed by a bell again. ...Except for that one guy who missed everything.
* AttentionWhore: He joins Imelda in singing "La Llorona" to stop her from taking Héctor's photo but then quickly gets swept up in the attention and [[SpotlightStealingSquad literally takes over singing the rest of the song]]. Unfortunately for him, this gives Imelda the opportunity to steal the photo back again.
* BadLiar: He's such a terrible liar that it's amazing that he managed to get away with the biggest lies for over 90 years. Héctor is reputated to be a lying ConMan and Miguel clearly believes that Ernesto wrote the songs himself. But rather than dismissing Héctor as a liar, he ends up confirming that Héctor was the real songwriter by telling another lie that he only "took" the songs as a means to keep a part of Héctor alive despite knowing beforehand that Héctor is being forgotten.
* BaitTheDog: He listened to a boy playing "his" song during the party with honest interest, dives into the pool to save him when he accidentally falls in, he invites him to enjoy the rest of his party and encourages his dream when he finds out that he is (supposedly) his great-great grandson and has a legitimate {{Squee}} moment when fireworks start to go off. It is not [[AmbitionIsEvil until he believes that Miguel might jeopardize his fame and image]] [[FauxAffablyEvil does he let his true colors show.]]
* BeyondRedemption: While Héctor is angry at his Ernesto for taking credit for his songs, he is still willing to let bygones be bygones if Ernesto helps him send Miguel back to the Land of the Living to save him from his [[DeaderThanDead Final Death]]. Upon learning that it was Ernesto who killed him in the first place with a poisoned shot glass, he furiously attacks him.
* BeYourself: An unusual case where the villain promotes this, showing the downsides of fully embracing your passions without any regard for how it affects others.
* BigBad: He's the main antagonist of the film. He was responsible for poisoning Héctor to death and stealing his songs and guitar and is willing to make sure he's forgotten by the Riveras in order to keep his fame.
* BigBadFriend: He was once friends with Héctor, but after poisoning him to death, he becomes the BigBad of the film.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Despite being adored by all of Mexico (Miguel especially) even before his unseen death, he actually stole the music from Héctor and poisoned him to death.
* BlatantLies: He insists that he only used Héctor's songs as a means to keep a part of him alive after his death, which doesn't impress Héctor at all since he is in danger of being forgotten and Miguel had earlier stated that Ernesto "wrote all his own songs."
* BreakTheHaughty: Exposing his treachery is really this for him. The audience boos at him and throws food at him, he is sent flying by Pepita towards the bell, and said bell crushes down on him.
* BrightIsNotGood: Wears pastel colors as part of his wardrobe (light blue in the "Remember Me" video, white in the Land of the Dead), but he's hiding a lot of metaphorical skeletons in his closet.
* BrokenPedestal: Miguel idolized him as a musician, Héctor considered Ernesto his best friend, and all of Mexico honored him as an idol after his death. However, they're all horrified and saddened to realize that Ernesto killed Héctor, Miguel's ''real'' great-great-grandfather, and stole his songs and guitar from him. One year after Ernesto's actions are exposed, his once-proud mausoleum in the Land of the Living that stood as a monument to him by the people is in shambles with no one, apparently not even the groundskeeper, bothering to even clean it. The only addition is a sign wrapped around a large bust of his head above the entrance, where it says "Remember Me". It contrasts this with two words that match everyone's new feelings about him: ''Forget You''.
* TheCasanova: It could partially be the reason why he was shocked when Miguel introduces himself as his great-great-grandson. De La Cruz would've likely had groupies during his lifetime, and knowing he conceived an illegitimate child would be a taboo.
* CaughtOnTape: How the Riveras exposed his true colors to the audience at the Sunrise Spectacular.
* CharacterCatchphrase: "Seize your moment." (Or, ''"Vive tu momento."'') He attributes this mentality to his success and [[DareToBeBadass encourages others to do the same]]. [[IronicEcho It takes on an incredibly dark turn]] when you discover just ''how'' exactly he seized his moment.
* ChickMagnet: Whether alive or dead, Ernesto is pretty popular with the ladies before the truth comes out and everyone rejects him.
* ChildhoodFriends: The novel ''Coco: A Story of Music, Shoes, and Family'' reveals that he and Héctor were ''childhood friends'' to the point where Héctor feels that Ernesto is like his brother.
* ColorMotif: Many things associated with Ernesto are a gleaming porcelain white -- his beloved guitar, his tomb, the walls and floor of his mausoleum, his mansion, and his sombrero and mariachi suit. Even his bones appear to be particularly clean and shining. A white that represents his shining image as a celebrity star... or the bones of the metaphorical skeleton in his closet. BrightIsNotGood, indeed...
* CorruptedCharacterCopy: Of [[WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife Joaquin]]. Like Joaquin, Ernesto is the [[ItsAllAboutMe self-absorbed]] town hero and befriends a sensitive Musician (Manolo and Héctor). The only difference is [[CharacterDevelopment Joaquin changed his selfish ways]] for his [[ThePowerOfFriendship friends' sake]] while Ernesto murdered his friend to steal his songs and guitar for fame instead of changing for the better.
* CreativeSterility: None of his acclaimed songs are really his. After stealing them from Héctor, he either sang them as-is or twisted them beyond recognition. This even extends to some of his movies, as shown by him basing one scene on the night he killed his friend. Ernesto simply does not have the drive to make anything genuinely new.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: While Héctor understandably disparages Ernesto's musical abilities as so-so at best and he's not a super creative guy, it's worth noting that Music/ElvisPresley was neither an amazing musical technician nor a real songwriter either. De la Cruz clearly had plenty of charisma to prop up his fundamentally sound singing and guitar-playing, the skills to do his own stunts, leading man good looks, and enough acting chops to perform a variety of roles in multiple films. Heck, given how he's able to completely change the feel and twist the meanings of songs like "Remember Me", he's very clearly a good musical arranger. He's even capable of off the cuff improvisation, as proven by his joining Imelda singing "La Llorona" to keep his fans from realizing that's not part of the act. He let one desperate moment turn him into someone with a DarkSecret, when he could have just found another songwriter and ended up just as rich and famous as he became with the many talents he honestly possessed.
* DarkIsEvil: Unlike the other dead who are [[DarkIsNotEvil good hearted]], Ernesto the skeleton is an unrepentant murderer.
* DarkSecret: His murder of Héctor and stealing his song "Remember Me" and claiming it as his own. There's no one he wouldn't murder to keep his secret hidden, such as Miguel and Imélda.
* TheDeadGuyDidIt: He died decades before any character or the audience even suspected he murdered Héctor Rivera or that the latter was even murdered in the first place.
* DeathAsComedy: He was killed when a bell fell down on him while performing for a big audience. It's especially funny since he [[AssholeVictim deserved it after what he did to Héctor]].
* DeathByIrony:
** He died immediately after finishing singing a song about leaving somewhere for good when a bell dropped on him. For added irony, he gets crushed in a similar fashion after being exposed.
** Not only that, he died while singing a bastardized version of the lullaby his friend wrote for his daughter, whom Ernesto made certain he would never see again while alive.
* DeathGlare: He gives one to Héctor as they share a drink, after Héctor drinks the liquor Ernesto poisoned. He also gives a particularly [[{{Pun}} bone]]-chillingly [[TranquilFury cold, blank glare]] to Miguel after he very unconvincingly lies that he knows Ernesto is the good guy after Héctor reveals said poisoning.
* DirtyCoward: He proves to be this when Héctor beats him up, despite being bigger of the two. In fact, despite being one of the most physically imposing characters in the film (and playing an ActionHero in his old movies), Ernesto is incredibly craven: he will ''always'' cower from a fight, hide behind smaller and weaker targets, or use charm or subterfuge rather than ''ever'' confront anyone head on. Lampshaded by ''his biggest fan'' before pointing out he's a FakeUltimateHero after all.
* DisappearedDad: It's heavily implied that he ran out on his own family to be a celebrity and knows nothing about the current status of his descendants. He didn't know that Miguel wasn't his great great grandson and he makes excuses for himself when Miguel brings up him abandoning his family despite the Riveras not actually being his family.
* DishonoredDead:
** He not only poisoned his friend Héctor, but let Héctor's family believe he abandoned them to follow his dream. As a result, they hated him, forgot his memory and refused to put his picture on the ofrenda.
** One year later, he gets a taste of his own medicine when the residents of the living world learn the truth about his crimes and close off his monument for good, putting a sign beneath his bust that says "Forget You".
* DontMakeMeDestroyYou: When Miguel and Héctor found out his secret, Ernesto tries to convince them otherwise. When that doesn't work, he considers throwing them to the cenote.
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: The song he was most famous for, "Remember Me", was written to be a loving ballad written by Héctor for Coco. Instead, Ernesto turned it into a bombastic song about romance for nobody in general. One important lyric is for the singer to ask to be remembered each time the listener hears a "sad guitar" when Ernesto's version is loud and lively, the exact opposite of what a sad guitar is mean to sound like, further showing Ernesto didn't understand what the value of the song was outside of it sounding good.
* EngineeredPublicConfession: His downfall was caused by Tia Rosita manning the camera and Tia Victoria turning the sound on to capture his moments where he confesses to his crimes, as well as throwing Miguel to his apparent death.
* EtTuBrute: His reaction when Héctor decides to abandon the music industry and return home to his family is of tranquil outrage, to the point that he ended up '''''murdering''''' his friend.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: {{Subverted|Trope}}.
** When Miguel first appears and claims to be his great-great-grandson, Ernesto is excited to have a great-great-grandson and quickly bonds with him and encourages him to follow his dreams. But when Miguel learns that Ernesto was a fraud and murderer, Ernesto did not hesitate to try to kill him to cover his tracks, even though he really did think Miguel was his great-great-grandson at the time.
** When Héctor confronts him about stealing his songs, Ernesto reasons that he did to honor his friend. Then, it was revealed that Ernesto ''killed'' Héctor to steal his songs for fame. He even coldly states that he ''did'' consider Héctor his best friend, but was and still is willing to kill him for fame.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: According to the creators, Ernesto was acting out of genuine selflessness when he rescued Miguel from the pool, not simply playing the hero to keep up appearances. It seems he's happy to do the right thing... as long as it doesn't cost him anything.
* EvilAllAlong: He is revealed to be a murderous fraud who lacks real song writing talent.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Ernesto cannot understand why his friend would want to give up a shot at fame and fortune to go home to his family, since all Ernesto himself cared about was the stardom that came with music rather than the music itself. So he murdered Héctor and stole his guitar and songs.
* EvilCounterpart: To both Miguel and Héctor. Just like them, Ernesto was an aspiring musician with a certain degree of selfishness. However, unlike the other two, Ernesto was willing to do ''anything'' to accomplish his goals, including murder.
* EvilFormerFriend: It doesn't get much more evil than poisoning your best friend for trying to go back home to his family, stealing the songs he wrote, and making yourself rich and famous off them, then letting his family believe he abandoned them for his own desire to become a musician.
* EvilIsEasy: Thinks he can become famous by murdering his best friend and making everything his ranging from his guitar and songs.
* EvilIsPetty:
** This idol Miguel looks up to is none other than just a despicable arrogant coward who murdered his best friend, Héctor just because he didn't respect the latter's decision to quit composing and singing to return to his family. Even worse than that, he took the song "Remember Me" that the latter wrote for his daughter, Coco, to exploit it as his signature song for fame. His petty actions not only prevent Héctor to return to his family especially Coco, but the family decided to hold a hundred years IrrationalHatred towards him for not returning.
** Not only did he kill the man who wrote all of his music, he also decides to gloat about it by adding ''the exact way he killed him'' to one of his movies. This comes to bite him when his own victim sees the movie and deduces that De La Cruz murdered him.
** Ernesto trying to stop Miguel from placing Héctor's photo on the family ofrenda is BUCKETS of this. As far as anyone knew at that point, there was no proof of what Ernesto had done, as far as Ernesto knew it wouldn't have changed much in the world of the living to let Miguel go back with the picture, after all who would believe a 12-year-old who claims that one of the greatest musicians in the country was a murdering fraud? There is no reason for Ernesto to prevent Héctor seeing and being remembered by one person, the daughter that Ernesto took him away from in the first place.
** Finally, he opts to try and keep Miguel trapped in the Land of the Dead simply because he learned his secret. This is despite the fact that Miguel at that point had no feasible way to expose the truth and tarnish Ernesto's legacy.
* EvilVirtues: Out of context, Ernesto's "Seize your Moment" motto does ring true with the virtue of determination and always following your dream in the face of hardships. Regardless, the fact that he murdered his friend for his songs in order to "seize his moment" showcases that his ambition is anything but virtuous.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Ernesto is an incredibly handsome man who is charmed by everyone for his beauty and music, and almost always wears a white-dyed mariachi suit in his media. Even as a skeleton, he still maintains his charming persona. Despite all his good looks, he is a [[TheSociopath relentless murderer]].
* FakeUltimateHero: A particularly horrifying example. Not only did Ernesto ''not'' write any of the music for which made him known as "the greatest musician of all time", he actually ''[[ThisIsUnforgivable murdered]]'' the man responsible just to steal the credit and get the fame. Even Miguel himself lampshades this with this quote:
-->'''Miguel:''' (confronting Ernesto) Héctor's the real musician! You're just the guy who murdered him and stole his songs!!
* FalseFriend: {{Double Subverted|Trope}}. Ernesto ''did'' consider Héctor his best friend, but he ultimately cared more about gaining fame than their friendship. As such, when Héctor was planning to return to his family, Ernesto poisoned Héctor and stole his work.
* FamilialFoe: Ernesto fights Miguel, his great-great grandparents, his great-aunt, his great-great aunt, and his great-great granduncles while trying to keep Miguel from leaving the Land of the Dead and poisoned Miguel's great-great grandfather while they were still alive.
* FatalFlaw: He's [[AttentionWhore obsessed with fame]] to the extreme and it causes him to make decisions that end up turning two worlds against him.
* FateWorseThanDeath: After Ernesto is exposed as a fraud, he'll spend the rest of his afterlife shunned and alone, unable to cross to the land of the living since it's unlikely people will still put up offerings for him after what happened. His only chance of getting out of that situation is when people will actually forget about him and he dies for good. But according to Lee Unkrich, he's still going to be remembered for his movies and for his stealing Héctor's songs, so he can't even go through a true death. So he has nothing left with two worlds where everyone now hates him and he can't even commit suicide. What's worse, they hate him so much that they probably won't even rescue him from under that bell and, unless he can disassemble and reassemble himself like other skeletons did, [[AndIMustScream there's a good chance he's stuck in there forever]]. Quite a grim outcome for a formerly beloved icon.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He started out as a polite person who befriends his longtime fan Miguel, but he later drops the charade when he had Héctor and Miguel tossed into a ''cenote'' after they learned of his true colors. He even taunted Héctor of his imminent fate of being forgotten after throwing Miguel off a cliff to his death, though Miguel was saved at the last minute.
* {{Foil}}: To Héctor, who despite his ConMan nature, ButtMonkey status, and [[UnkemptBeauty disheveled]] appearance, is ultimately a good person who regretted leaving his family for selfish reasons. On the other hand, Ernesto, despite his successful career, respect by millions, and [[BrightIsNotGood bright]] clothing, turns out to be a pure sociopath willing to kill anyone to get and maintain his fame. Adding to the contrast between the duo, while Héctor was a devoted (if [[ParentsAsPeople flawed]]) FamilyMan who wanted to share his music with the world, Ernesto only cared about fame and is hinted to have been someone who ReallyGetsAround, but nonetheless is implied to not have any family to visit even during El Dia De Los Muertos. Even their respective versions of "Remember Me" highlight the difference between the two men: with Héctor's version being a soft, genuinely loving and deeply personal song about asking his daughter to remember him no matter where he goes, and he wrote the song not to be famous, but ''solely'' for his daughter. While Ernesto's version is a grandiosely overblown spectacle ballad that twists the once loving and personal song into something which ''sounds'' like a romantic love song, but that's actually surface level, and his emphasis on the words ''"Remember Me"'' show that it's actually [[ItsAllAboutMe completely about himself and his desire to be remembered]]; very much like the man himself, who plays the kind and charming gentleman to people, but under the surface he's a cold, self-centered psychopath. Also, Ernesto's version, while bombastic, has no real heart and soul to it compared to Héctor's version because Ernesto ''has no'' personal connection with the song; to him, it was just another of the songs he stole from a dead man he killed out of greed.
* FreudianSlip: Right when he's about to give Miguel his blessing, Ernesto says he hopes Miguel will "die really soon". While he clearly meant he hoped he'd meet Miguel again and it just came out wrong, it hints that he's jealous of Miguel's talent and skill that he himself faked and doesn't want the boy to outshine him.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He, along with Héctor was an average Joe on the path to fame, but all that fame and glory changed him to the point where he became an insidious, heartless murderer to keep the fame.
* GloryHound: The pursuit of fame only made him more selfish, and he'll do anything to keep his fame. He killed his best friend and stole his songs, claiming all the credit for himself. When Miguel finds out the truth, he throws him in a ''cenote'' to stop him from leaving the Land of the Dead and later, Ernesto tries to kill him by throwing him off the building.
* GoodHairEvilHair: He is the only character in the film to have curly hair instead of straight hair.
* HateSink: He is a cowardly, glory-hungry sociopath who not only murders his best friend, Héctor, in order to steal his songs and pass them off as his own, but knowingly deprives Héctor of the opportunity to see his daughter to insure that he will disappear forever in the Land of the Dead. Then he [[WouldHurtAChild remorselessly throws Miguel, a 12-year-old child, off a building]] to prevent him from revealing his crimes back in the Land of the Living. And to top it all off, he has spent almost 100 years in comfort and luxury because nobody ever found out what he did. This makes his ultimate comeuppance during the film's climax all the more satisfying.
* HisOwnWorstEnemy: The tragic irony of Ernesto's immoral path to fame is that it could have been all avoided had he not been so insecure about it. He could have let Héctor return to his family and work out an exclusive deal for his songs. He could have made a film that didn't hit so close to his crime. He could have trusted Miguel to keep silent about his sins (since breaking a blessing's condition would send him back to the Land of the Dead). But time and time again, Ernesto's narcissism and pride ensures that he will pay for his sins, though the chickens won't come to roost until long after he's dead.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** Sometime after poisoning Héctor, he wrote a similar scene into one of his movies, only with himself as the intended victim of the poisoning. During his confrontation with Héctor, that exact scene is playing on a TV in the background, which leads Miguel and Héctor to deduce the truth about Héctor's death.
** His fame and the movies he starred in guarantee that, even if freed from the bell he is trapped under, he will be doomed to suffer in disgrace for an extremely long time, unable to end his own suffering.
* IShallTauntYou: After throwing Miguel off a building with Héctor's photo, Ernesto delivers this to a horrified Héctor:
-->'''Ernesto:''' Apologies, old friend, but the show must go on!
* {{Irony}}:
** He died in 1942 during a performance courtesy of a large bell. By the end of the film, he is once again crushed by a bell, this time in the Land of the Dead. He also died 21 years after his murder of Héctor, who was only 21 at the time.
** One of his quotes is "Never underestimate the power of music". It's music that not only restores Coco's memory of Héctor, but sets off a chain reaction where people learn the truth and condemn Ernesto's shrine.
** His most famous song, one that which he had stolen, was "Remember Me", to the point that these words are engraved on his mausoleum. After being exposed as a fraud, his monument has been vandalized with a "Forget You!" sign.
** His fan who would always follow Ernesto's tips was ultimately the one who revealed him as a murdering fraud.
** ''Ernesto'' is the Spanish variation of the name ''Ernest'', which sounds and is spelled very similarly to the word ''earnest'', meaning truthful, genuine or heartfelt. And his last name is Spanish for "from the cross", meaning his name is literally "Heartfelt from the Cross". Considering that he is a liar and a fraud who wished his best friend well while handing him a poisoned drink -- a major case of IronicName.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He only cares about being rich and famous, and he doesn't care what he has to do to pursue it. Even murdering a friend [[note]] who just wanted to go home to his family [[/note]] or his supposed great-great-grandson. His catchphrase really shows how selfish he truly is. In essence, he shows the downsides of [[BeYourself fully embracing your passions]] without any regard for how it affects others.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: If Miguel thinks that there's a family man behind the narcissistic, egotistical persona who allegedly abandoned his family for stardom, he's ''[[{{Pun}} dead]]'' wrong. Ernesto ''does'' save Miguel from drowning in the pool, though he is ''not'' hesitant in killing him later on to prevent him from knowing his secret.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: His murder of Héctor and literally plagiarising his songs remained unnoticed even during his death, but once the Riveras engineer his confession in front of his adoring fans, and later viewing him outright attempting to murder a child, karma quickly catches up to him. Even in real life, his plagiarism makes its way to headlines, and his placard is literally besmirched into "Forget You!" after his misdeeds become public, and everything he stole from Héctor makes his due way back to him.
* KarmicShunning: After his true nature is revealed to both the Lands of the Living and the Dead, he becomes a pariah, losing all of his fans and becomes trapped under a giant bell with no one wanting to help him.
* LackOfEmpathy: Shows no remorse for killing Héctor and deliberately giving him a horrible afterlife for ''near a century'' to satisfy his own self-benefit. He also doesn't care when Héctor is on the verge of his true death because of him. Even his 'relationship' towards Miguel only lasts until Miguel proves to be a problem, at which point he attempts to murder him without a second thought.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Gets crushed by a bell ''again'', this time in the Land of the Dead. It's further implied that he will ultimately be unable to experience a final death, as both the Lands of the Living and the Dead will only remember him as a fraud and a murderer but they ''will'' remember him as that for a good while and the final death only happens to one who is being forgotten by everyone.
* LovedByAll: He is a revered musician who is respected throughout Mexico and the Land of the Dead, and there's even a statue and building that contains his guitar. He ends up becoming HatedByAll throughout both places after it's revealed to the public that he killed Héctor and stole all his songs.
* MadArtist: [[GloryHound He will be famous in life and death]], and he won't think twice if he needs to murder his songwriter and best friend for that. And then, he makes a movie about the murder.
* ManlyFacialHair: He sports a remarkable mustache on his face and is a renowned singer and actor, whose film character is a daring action hero. He keeps it as a skeleton and, once his true intentions are revealed, it's not that charismatic anymore.
* MilesGloriosus: His movies display him as daring and bold and brave. He even brags to Miguel that he did all his own stunts in the movies. But later, when Héctor tackles him for murdering him, he cowers and resorts to calling security to take care of his fight for him.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: See CutLexLuthorACheck above. He didn't ''have'' to murder Héctor, and could have just as likely had fame and fortune with another songwriter. But he clearly didn't think well in panic mode...
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Sure he murdered Héctor and is unrepentant about it, but the look on his face he made when he first saw him in the Land of the Dead being forgotten showed genuine sadness from it.
* {{Narcissist}}: He has his movies playing on the walls of his mansion in the Land of the Dead. Every. Single. Movie. At all times. For that matter, everything in his mansion is basically designed around him, from the swimming pool designed after his guitar to the mansion itself, which resembles his sombrero.
* NiceCharacterMeanActor: He acts nice and cheerful in his movies and onstage, but the real him is cold and cruel, and actually stole the music from Héctor to become famous.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: According to Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina, Ernesto's performances are based on well-known Mexican musicians such as Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete, and Vicente Fernández. In fact, Benjamin Bratt watched video clips of Infante and Negrete to prepare for his role.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: The shape of his head looks more resembling to when he was alive while the other skeletons have virtually nearly the same head shape. Also, while a lot of the skeletons wear multicolored clothes, he wears predominately silver, appearing almost black and white. This is a clue that he's not what he appears to be.
* NoStuntDouble: InUniverse. When Miguel watches his character's fight with Don Hidalgo in ''El Camino a Casa'' and reenacts it with Ernesto, he claims he did all of his own stunts.
* OffingTheOffspring: While still under the impression that Miguel was his great-great-grandson, Ernesto is ''still'' willing to kill him to protect his secret.
* OvershadowedByControversy: He attains this status InUniverse at the end according to the creators -- and it's going to keep him "alive" in a Land of the Dead that now despises him [[FateWorseThanDeath for a VERY long time]].
* PaperTiger: He has a fairly impressive build and keeps up an appearance of being something of a daredevil, but doesn't even ''attempt'' to defend himself when Héctor attacks him.
* PetTheDog: According to the creators, his saving Miguel was "common decency". Furthermore, he seemed genuinely fond of Miguel during their private interactions and he was legitimately going to give Miguel his blessing to go home before Héctor arrived.
* PhotoOpWithTheDog: If rescuing Miguel from the pool in the crowded foyer doesn't qualify as this, parading Miguel around the mansion as his great-great-grandson definitely does.
* PlagiarismInFiction: His songs aren't actually from him, but from Héctor.
* PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes: The Polite Villain to Héctor's Rude Hero. Before and after the The Reveal that he is the Big Bad, Ernesto is smooth, charming, and well-dressed in contrast to Héctor, who is the mischievous, snarky, and roguish Deuteragonist of the film.
* PosthumousCharacter: Assuming the movie takes place in 2017, Ernesto had been dead for at least 75 years by the time the movie's events take place.
* PragmaticVillainy: He does bond with Miguel and looks like he genuinely was going to give him his blessings until Héctor showed up, and he doesn't change his [[FauxAffablyEvil affable tone]] until [[HeKnowsTooMuch Miguel realizes the truth about him]].
* RagsToRiches: He was a simple music businessman who was friends with Héctor until he poisoned the latter's tequila and stole his songs and guitar, thereby achieving fame in both the Land of the Living and the Land of the Dead.
* ReallyGetsAround: {{Implied|Trope}}. He was unmarried and was shown to be a ChickMagnet in his life, and when Miguel states that he is Ernesto's great-great-grandson, the musician is surprised but also believes the statement relatively quickly. A subtle ParentalBonus moment.
* RedemptionRejection: An interesting example that occurs before revealing he committed murder. Héctor is willing to get over Ernesto stealing credit for his music if it means letting him get his photo back in the world of the living, telling him it's a chance to make things right. At this point, neither Miguel nor Héctor is aware of Ernesto's murder of the latter, so he has no reason to fear his secret being revealed. Instead, Ernesto tries to dissuade his former friend, showing he values his fame even when there's no possibility of it being compromised.
* RescueIntroduction: When Miguel falls into Ernesto's guitar-shaped swimming pool in the palace, he ends up rescuing him.
* RobbingTheDead: Big time. After murdering Héctor, Ernesto took his guitar, his music, his family's respect for him, his duly deserved fame and fortune, and his chance to see his daughter again, all to further his own career. However, Miguel returns the guitar (though is allowed to keep it for himself later) and fame to its rightful owner once and for all.
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Lets out a high-pitched scream (which he hides as a ''grito'') when Imelda stomps on his foot to steal Héctor's picture back.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Ernesto and Héctor, in life. Ernesto was the macho singer who was alright with murdering his best friend to achieve fame and fortune, while Héctor was the sensitive songwriter who intended to give up on his dream of being famous to go back to his family. This also comes through in the way both he and Héctor sing and play music. Ernesto plays and sings in a loud, bombastic way while Héctor's playing and singing is much more soft and tender.
* SexyPriest: Ernesto was a ChickMagnet in life and played a priest in his career as an actor, as shown in one of his movie scenes at his mansion.
* ShadowArchetype:
** To Héctor -- Ernesto represents Héctor if the latter let fame change him to the point of being devoid of any ''true'' familial love for his relatives.
** To Miguel -- Ernesto represents Miguel if the latter had let his own self-interest become more important than his loved ones. What's more telling, both Ernesto and Miguel perform [[KickTheDog hurtful]] acts in the pursuit of their goals, but while Miguel realizes his mistakes and [[PetTheDog makes it up]], Ernesto doesn't.
* SicklyGreenGlow: While Héctor is being processed by customs, a picture of de la Cruz is illuminated by the light emanating from the green lampshade of the lamp on the officer's desk. Later, when Héctor confronts de la Cruz, and subsequently calls on security to escort him out, de la Cruz is illuminated by a bright neon light as he has Miguel escorted out as a security threat.
* SignatureSong: An InUniverse example. "Remember Me" is his most popular song, or so it originally seems.
* SmugSnake: It takes a special kind of smug to take the moment you poisoned your former best friend and business partner and add the ''entire scene'' to one of your movies, giving the villain the exact thing you said then while rewriting yourself as the hero who unlike reality realizes his tequila was poisoned. So smug in the fact that seeing the scene gives Héctor an epiphany of what ''really'' happened the night he died.
** To top it off, the movie in question is titled ''El Camino a Casa'', which translates to ''The Way Home''. It can't get any more copycat-ish than that.
* TheSocialDarwinist: Of the Struggler and Straw Meritocrat types. He's willing to do what it takes to be successful, even if he has to murder his own best friend to achieve fame. [[TheUnfettered And he's not squeamish about this]].
* TheSociopath: A particularly creepy example, he comes off as a kind, fatherly, lovable sort of person whom anyone would want to know. In reality, he's a frighteningly arrogant murderer willing to off anyone -- including his best friend and supposed great-great grandson, a ''child'' -- who gets in his way without a moment's hesitation or regret. He also displays the poor impulse control, as murdering Hector largely only worked out due to something outside of his control and he couldn't resist practically bragging about his murder in his movies.
* SpitTake: He does this in one of his movies (''El Camino a Casa'') with thanks to Don Hidalgo (the movie's villain) poisoning the drink. It's what causes Héctor to remember his last night alive, where Ernesto poisoned him exactly the same way, along with the same dialogue from the movie.
* StartOfDarkness: Poisoning Héctor was solidified in his mind his "Seize your Moment" philosophy that he directly attributes to his success. On some level, he does feel bad about his friend's death, but he refuses to apologize for it, as it was ''the'' moment that truly allowed him to achieve his dream.
* StealthPun: Ernesto was crushed to death by a bell just as he finished singing the last note of "Remember Me" while performing at a concert. He literally went out on a high note.
* StrawHypocrite: Ultimately he doesn't at all practice what he preaches. An interview of him when he was alive showed him saying he had faith in his dream because no one was going to give it to him when, in real life, he had no faith in his dream and was angry his former best friend wasn't willing to give him any more songs, so he murdered him and stole the credit. There's also him featured in movies where he talks about how to never underestimate the power of music when it turns out he has no artistic merit or care and only saw music as a greater means of getting rich and famous.
* StupidEvil:
** Putting in a movie the way you murdered your friend along with the exact words you said to him isn't just unoriginal but doesn't exactly scream brilliant (although granted, the only other person who could possibly know about that was said murdered friend, so Ernesto really had no reason to suspect it might come back to bite him).
** Another example of his [[SarcasmMode brilliant mind]] is when he tries to kill Miguel by tossing him off the skyscraper. Even if he had succeeded, his actions [[EngineeredPublicConfession have already been exposed on live TV]], so Ernesto still would have suffered a FateWorseThanDeath involving a ZeroPercentApprovalRating in the afterlife.
** His whole murder of Héctor and the complete theft of his songs and guitar. Hadn't Imelda imposed a music ban on her family due to anger at her husband abandoning her, it wouldn't have taken as long as Ernesto getting into the afterlife before being exposed due to Imelda easily recognizing Héctor's style.
* SymbolicBlood: As he's being booed by the angry crowd at the Sunrise Spectacular after his crimes are exposed, someone shouts "Murderer!" and he gets hit by a tomato, leaving a red splatter on his jacket that looks like a blood stain.
* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: He poisoned Héctor's tequila, resulting in the latter's death.
* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Has shades of this with Héctor. Héctor is the sincere, heart-felt Performer to Ernesto's polished and pristine but emotionally vacant Technician. It's especially apparent in how they both sing "Remember Me": Ernesto turned it into a cheesy love ballad aimed at no one in particular, while Héctor originally wrote it as a lullaby for his beloved daughter. And then, there's the fact that Ernesto stole Héctor's songs because he knew he wasn't gifted enough to make it on his own artistic merit.
* TranquilFury: He hid his fury when he poisoned Héctor's tequila.
* UndignifiedDeath: His death was by a stagehand being entertained by his singing enough to accidentally push the lever that let go of a large bell above Ernesto, crushing him.
* TheUnfettered: Ernesto is willing to do ''anything'' to secure his success, including murdering his best friend to steal his songs, and condemning the boy he believes to be his great-great-grandson to his death to cover up his secret.
-->'''Ernesto:''' Success doesn't come for free. You have to do whatever it takes to... ''[[IronicEcho seize your moment]]''.
* VillainousBreakdown: When he holds Miguel hostage his demeanor changes from a calm and suave singer to a desperate and angry man willing to murder a child.
* VileVillainSaccharineShow: A coming-of-age movie with cartoony skeletons and a goofy dog with a long tongue features the first Pixar villain (and first Disney villain since [[WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog Dr. Facilier]]) to successfully murder a character on-screen (and unlike Facilier, Ernesto actually murdered another human whereas Facilier simply crushed a bug).
* VillainInAWhiteSuit: In the Land of the Dead, he is dressed in an immaculate white suit, fitting for his shining celebrity reputation and his sinister personality.
* VillainousRescue: He dove in to rescue Miguel from drowning in his mansion's swimming pool after meeting him for the first time. The creators make it clear he did it out of "common decency".
* VillainSong: His version of "Remember Me". It was originally a soft and solemn ballad that Héctor wrote for Coco so that she could remember him; Ernesto eventually twisted it into a big showstopping number that the ''world'' could remember him for. The way they perform the songs best represents them; the songwriter wrote a heartfelt ballad for someone he knew for her, and the singer portrayed it as a bombastic number aimed at no one so that everyone will idolize him. Even though it doesn't fit the way a villain song is usually sung, namely the villain singing about his evil intentions, it's instead the context of stealing something personal and using it for personal gain that is later revealed when Miguel learns where the song came from.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Despite being the BigBad of the film, Ernesto's quite beloved in his home country and in the Land of the Dead. At least until the Rivera family exposes his evil intentions at the Sunrise Spectacular.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Héctor claims they used to be friends and he taught Ernesto everything he knows, even though they don't associate currently. Since it's [[ConMan Héctor]] it's hard to know how truthful he's being at first. It turns out that they ''were'' best friends but that ended because Ernesto took credit for all of Héctor's songs after he died in 1921. Then moments after the audience finds that out, Héctor finds out Ernesto actually murdered him for those songs making him a BigBadFriend.
* WickedPretentious: He's a musician, singer, and actor who's proficient with folk songs like "La Llorona" as well as modern ones, and he takes the time to admire Miguel's performance. However, he has no genuine appreciation for whatever art form he performs. Everything he does, he does for fame and attention.
* WouldHurtAChild: He's willing to throw Miguel into a ''cenote'' with Héctor after his true identity is revealed. Later, he attempts to send Miguel falling to his death. This is what ultimately turns the Land of the Dead against him, along with the EngineeredPublicConfession airing at that time.
* YouMonster: After the Land of the Dead finds out he killed his best friend and throws Miguel off a building, one of the audience members calls him "Murderer!"[[/folder]]
[[folder:Chicharrón]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/olmoscoco.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: "Like the time you promised to bring back my van? Or my mini-fridge? Or my good napkins? My lasso? My femur?!"]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/EdwardJamesOlmos (English), Creator/VictorTrujillo (Latin American Spanish)[[note]]'''Other Languages:''' Katsuhisa Hōki (Japanese), So Cheong-hwan (Korean), Peter Groeger (German), Guy Nadon (Canadian French), Patrick Raynal (European French)[[/note]]
A "friend" of Héctor's, living with all the other skeletons who do not get offerings on Día de los Muertos. He is forgotten and [[DeaderThanDead disappears for good]] shortly after he is introduced.
----
* AllForNothing: He's willing to do anything to seize his moment, even murdering his best friend Héctor for his songs and covering up his crimes so that he'll be remembered as the greatest musician in life and death. He ends up dying prematurely when a bell accidentally crushed him at the height of his career, and then his crimes are exposed by Héctor's descendant Miguel, destroying his reputation overnight. In the end, Ernesto's legacy is a disgraced and abandoned tomb, with his memory becoming nothing more than an accessory to Héctor's story.
* AmbitionIsEvil: Ernesto only became the star he was after he murdered Héctor and stole his songs.
* AndIMustScream: His status by the end of the film is crushed beneath a bell and still alive in the Land of the Dead, both worlds know him to be a murderer and it is doubtful anyone in the Land of the Dead is going to get that bell off him.
** Even if Ernesto escapes the bell, according to Lee Unkrich, he'll still be remembered for his movies. This means that he's essentially trapped in the Land Of The Dead with the knowledge that he's disgraced in both worlds forever, and he can't even commit suicide. Perhaps one of the most family-friendly depictions of Hell for a villain in media.
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: Everyone in the Land of the Dead rejoiced after Ernesto is exposed as a fraud/murderer and gets crushed by a bell again. ...Except for that one guy who missed everything.
* AttentionWhore: He joins Imelda in singing "La Llorona" to stop her from taking Héctor's photo but then quickly gets swept up in the attention and [[SpotlightStealingSquad literally takes over singing the rest of the song]]. Unfortunately for him, this gives Imelda the opportunity to steal the photo back again.
* BadLiar: He's such a terrible liar that it's amazing that he managed to get away with the biggest lies for over 90 years. Héctor is reputated to be a lying ConMan and Miguel clearly believes that Ernesto wrote the songs himself. But rather than dismissing Héctor as a liar, he ends up confirming that Héctor was the real songwriter by telling another lie that he only "took" the songs as a means to keep a part of Héctor alive despite knowing beforehand that Héctor is being forgotten.
* BaitTheDog: He listened to a boy playing "his" song during the party with honest interest, dives into the pool to save him when he accidentally falls in, he invites him to enjoy the rest of his party and encourages his dream when he finds out that he is (supposedly) his great-great grandson and has a legitimate {{Squee}} moment when fireworks start to go off. It is not [[AmbitionIsEvil until he believes that Miguel might jeopardize his fame and image]] [[FauxAffablyEvil does he let his true colors show.]]
* BeyondRedemption: While Héctor is angry at his Ernesto for taking credit for his songs, he is still willing to let bygones be bygones if Ernesto helps him send Miguel back to the Land of the Living to save him from his [[DeaderThanDead Final Death]]. Upon learning that it was Ernesto who killed him in the first place with a poisoned shot glass, he furiously attacks him.
* BeYourself: An unusual case where the villain promotes this, showing the downsides of fully embracing your passions without any regard for how it affects others.
* BigBad: He's the main antagonist of the film. He was responsible for poisoning Héctor to death and stealing his songs and guitar and is willing to make sure he's forgotten by the Riveras in order to keep his fame.
* BigBadFriend: He was once friends with Héctor, but after poisoning him to death, he becomes the BigBad of the film.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Despite being adored by all of Mexico (Miguel especially) even before his unseen death, he actually stole the music from Héctor and poisoned him to death.
* BlatantLies: He insists that he only used Héctor's songs as a means to keep a part of him alive after his death, which doesn't impress Héctor at all since he is in danger of being forgotten and Miguel had earlier stated that Ernesto "wrote all his own songs."
* BreakTheHaughty: Exposing his treachery is really this for him. The audience boos at him and throws food at him, he is sent flying by Pepita towards the bell, and said bell crushes down on him.
* BrightIsNotGood: Wears pastel colors as part of his wardrobe (light blue in the "Remember Me" video, white in the Land of the Dead), but he's hiding a lot of metaphorical skeletons in his closet.
* BrokenPedestal: Miguel idolized him as a musician, Héctor considered Ernesto his best friend, and all of Mexico honored him as an idol after his death. However, they're all horrified and saddened to realize that Ernesto killed Héctor, Miguel's ''real'' great-great-grandfather, and stole his songs and guitar from him. One year after Ernesto's actions are exposed, his once-proud mausoleum in the Land of the Living that stood as a monument to him by the people is in shambles with no one, apparently not even the groundskeeper, bothering to even clean it. The only addition is a sign wrapped around a large bust of his head above the entrance, where it says "Remember Me". It contrasts this with two words that match everyone's new feelings about him: ''Forget You''.
* TheCasanova: It could partially be the reason why he was shocked when Miguel introduces himself as his great-great-grandson. De La Cruz would've likely had groupies during his lifetime, and knowing he conceived an illegitimate child would be a taboo.
* CaughtOnTape: How the Riveras exposed his true colors to the audience at the Sunrise Spectacular.
* CharacterCatchphrase: "Seize your moment." (Or, ''"Vive tu momento."'') He attributes this mentality to his success and [[DareToBeBadass encourages others to do the same]]. [[IronicEcho It takes on an incredibly dark turn]] when you discover just ''how'' exactly he seized his moment.
* ChickMagnet: Whether alive or dead, Ernesto is pretty popular with the ladies before the truth comes out and everyone rejects him.
* ChildhoodFriends: The novel ''Coco: A Story of Music, Shoes, and Family'' reveals that he and Héctor were ''childhood friends'' to the point where Héctor feels that Ernesto is like his brother.
* ColorMotif: Many things associated with Ernesto are a gleaming porcelain white -- his beloved guitar, his tomb, the walls and floor of his mausoleum, his mansion, and his sombrero and mariachi suit. Even his bones appear to be particularly clean and shining. A white that represents his shining image as a celebrity star... or the bones of the metaphorical skeleton in his closet. BrightIsNotGood, indeed...
* CorruptedCharacterCopy: Of [[WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife Joaquin]]. Like Joaquin, Ernesto is the [[ItsAllAboutMe self-absorbed]] town hero and befriends a sensitive Musician (Manolo and Héctor). The only difference is [[CharacterDevelopment Joaquin changed his selfish ways]] for his [[ThePowerOfFriendship friends' sake]] while Ernesto murdered his friend to steal his songs and guitar for fame instead of changing for the better.
* CreativeSterility: None of his acclaimed songs are really his. After stealing them from Héctor, he either sang them as-is or twisted them beyond recognition. This even extends to some of his movies, as shown by him basing one scene on the night he killed his friend. Ernesto simply does not have the drive to make anything genuinely new.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: While Héctor understandably disparages Ernesto's musical abilities as so-so at best and he's not a super creative guy, it's worth noting that Music/ElvisPresley was neither an amazing musical technician nor a real songwriter either. De la Cruz clearly had plenty of charisma to prop up his fundamentally sound singing and guitar-playing, the skills to do his own stunts, leading man good looks, and enough acting chops to perform a variety of roles in multiple films. Heck, given how he's able to completely change the feel and twist the meanings of songs like "Remember Me", he's very clearly a good musical arranger. He's even capable of off the cuff improvisation, as proven by his joining Imelda singing "La Llorona" to keep his fans from realizing that's not part of the act. He let one desperate moment turn him into someone with a DarkSecret, when he could have just found another songwriter and ended up just as rich and famous as he became with the many talents he honestly possessed.
* DarkIsEvil: Unlike the other dead who are [[DarkIsNotEvil good hearted]], Ernesto the skeleton is an unrepentant murderer.
* DarkSecret: His murder of Héctor and stealing his song "Remember Me" and claiming it as his own. There's no one he wouldn't murder to keep his secret hidden, such as Miguel and Imélda.
* TheDeadGuyDidIt: He died decades before any character or the audience even suspected he murdered Héctor Rivera or that the latter was even murdered in the first place.
* DeathAsComedy: He was killed when a bell fell down on him while performing for a big audience. It's especially funny since he [[AssholeVictim deserved it after what he did to Héctor]].
* DeathByIrony:
** He died immediately after finishing singing a song about leaving somewhere for good when a bell dropped on him. For added irony, he gets crushed in a similar fashion after being exposed.
** Not only that, he died while singing a bastardized version of the lullaby his friend wrote for his daughter, whom Ernesto made certain he would never see again while alive.
* DeathGlare: He gives one to Héctor as they share a drink, after Héctor drinks the liquor Ernesto poisoned. He also gives a particularly [[{{Pun}} bone]]-chillingly [[TranquilFury cold, blank glare]] to Miguel after he very unconvincingly lies that he knows Ernesto is the good guy after Héctor reveals said poisoning.
* DirtyCoward: He proves to be this when Héctor beats him up, despite being bigger of the two. In fact, despite being one of the most physically imposing characters in the film (and playing an ActionHero in his old movies), Ernesto is incredibly craven: he will ''always'' cower from a fight, hide behind smaller and weaker targets, or use charm or subterfuge rather than ''ever'' confront anyone head on. Lampshaded by ''his biggest fan'' before pointing out he's a FakeUltimateHero after all.
* DisappearedDad: It's heavily implied that he ran out on his own family to be a celebrity and knows nothing about the current status of his descendants. He didn't know that Miguel wasn't his great great grandson and he makes excuses for himself when Miguel brings up him abandoning his family despite the Riveras not actually being his family.
* DishonoredDead:
** He not only poisoned his friend Héctor, but let Héctor's family believe he abandoned them to follow his dream. As a result, they hated him, forgot his memory and refused to put his picture on the ofrenda.
** One year later, he gets a taste of his own medicine when the residents of the living world learn the truth about his crimes and close off his monument for good, putting a sign beneath his bust that says "Forget You".
* DontMakeMeDestroyYou: When Miguel and Héctor found out his secret, Ernesto tries to convince them otherwise. When that doesn't work, he considers throwing them to the cenote.
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: The song he was most famous for, "Remember Me", was written to be a loving ballad written by Héctor for Coco. Instead, Ernesto turned it into a bombastic song about romance for nobody in general. One important lyric is for the singer to ask to be remembered each time the listener hears a "sad guitar" when Ernesto's version is loud and lively, the exact opposite of what a sad guitar is mean to sound like, further showing Ernesto didn't understand what the value of the song was outside of it sounding good.
* EngineeredPublicConfession: His downfall was caused by Tia Rosita manning the camera and Tia Victoria turning the sound on to capture his moments where he confesses to his crimes, as well as throwing Miguel to his apparent death.
* EtTuBrute: His reaction when Héctor decides to abandon the music industry and return home to his family is of tranquil outrage, to the point that he ended up '''''murdering''''' his friend.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: {{Subverted|Trope}}.
** When Miguel first appears and claims to be his great-great-grandson, Ernesto is excited to have a great-great-grandson and quickly bonds with him and encourages him to follow his dreams. But when Miguel learns that Ernesto was a fraud and murderer, Ernesto did not hesitate to try to kill him to cover his tracks, even though he really did think Miguel was his great-great-grandson at the time.
** When Héctor confronts him about stealing his songs, Ernesto reasons that he did to honor his friend. Then, it was revealed that Ernesto ''killed'' Héctor to steal his songs for fame. He even coldly states that he ''did'' consider Héctor his best friend, but was and still is willing to kill him for fame.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: According to the creators, Ernesto was acting out of genuine selflessness when he rescued Miguel from the pool, not simply playing the hero to keep up appearances. It seems he's happy to do the right thing... as long as it doesn't cost him anything.
* EvilAllAlong: He is revealed to be a murderous fraud who lacks real song writing talent.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Ernesto cannot understand why his friend would want to give up a shot at fame and fortune to go home to his family, since all Ernesto himself cared about was the stardom that came with music rather than the music itself. So he murdered Héctor and stole his guitar and songs.
* EvilCounterpart: To both Miguel and Héctor. Just like them, Ernesto was an aspiring musician with a certain degree of selfishness. However, unlike the other two, Ernesto was willing to do ''anything'' to accomplish his goals, including murder.
* EvilFormerFriend: It doesn't get much more evil than poisoning your best friend for trying to go back home to his family, stealing the songs he wrote, and making yourself rich and famous off them, then letting his family believe he abandoned them for his own desire to become a musician.
* EvilIsEasy: Thinks he can become famous by murdering his best friend and making everything his ranging from his guitar and songs.
* EvilIsPetty:
** This idol Miguel looks up to is none other than just a despicable arrogant coward who murdered his best friend, Héctor just because he didn't respect the latter's decision to quit composing and singing to return to his family. Even worse than that, he took the song "Remember Me" that the latter wrote for his daughter, Coco, to exploit it as his signature song for fame. His petty actions not only prevent Héctor to return to his family especially Coco, but the family decided to hold a hundred years IrrationalHatred towards him for not returning.
** Not only did he kill the man who wrote all of his music, he also decides to gloat about it by adding ''the exact way he killed him'' to one of his movies. This comes to bite him when his own victim sees the movie and deduces that De La Cruz murdered him.
** Ernesto trying to stop Miguel from placing Héctor's photo on the family ofrenda is BUCKETS of this. As far as anyone knew at that point, there was no proof of what Ernesto had done, as far as Ernesto knew it wouldn't have changed much in the world of the living to let Miguel go back with the picture, after all who would believe a 12-year-old who claims that one of the greatest musicians in the country was a murdering fraud? There is no reason for Ernesto to prevent Héctor seeing and being remembered by one person, the daughter that Ernesto took him away from in the first place.
** Finally, he opts to try and keep Miguel trapped in the Land of the Dead simply because he learned his secret. This is despite the fact that Miguel at that point had no feasible way to expose the truth and tarnish Ernesto's legacy.
* EvilVirtues: Out of context, Ernesto's "Seize your Moment" motto does ring true with the virtue of determination and always following your dream in the face of hardships. Regardless, the fact that he murdered his friend for his songs in order to "seize his moment" showcases that his ambition is anything but virtuous.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Ernesto is an incredibly handsome man who is charmed by everyone for his beauty and music, and almost always wears a white-dyed mariachi suit in his media. Even as a skeleton, he still maintains his charming persona. Despite all his good looks, he is a [[TheSociopath relentless murderer]].
* FakeUltimateHero: A particularly horrifying example. Not only did Ernesto ''not'' write any of the music for which made him known as "the greatest musician of all time", he actually ''[[ThisIsUnforgivable murdered]]'' the man responsible just to steal the credit and get the fame. Even Miguel himself lampshades this with this quote:
-->'''Miguel:''' (confronting Ernesto) Héctor's the real musician! You're just the guy who murdered him and stole his songs!!
* FalseFriend: {{Double Subverted|Trope}}. Ernesto ''did'' consider Héctor his best friend, but he ultimately cared more about gaining fame than their friendship. As such, when Héctor was planning to return to his family, Ernesto poisoned Héctor and stole his work.
* FamilialFoe: Ernesto fights Miguel, his great-great grandparents, his great-aunt, his great-great aunt, and his great-great granduncles while trying to keep Miguel from leaving the Land of the Dead and poisoned Miguel's great-great grandfather while they were still alive.
* FatalFlaw: He's [[AttentionWhore obsessed with fame]] to the extreme and it causes him to make decisions that end up turning two worlds against him.
* FateWorseThanDeath: After Ernesto is exposed as a fraud, he'll spend the rest of his afterlife shunned and alone, unable to cross to the land of the living since it's unlikely people will still put up offerings for him after what happened. His only chance of getting out of that situation is when people will actually forget about him and he dies for good. But according to Lee Unkrich, he's still going to be remembered for his movies and for his stealing Héctor's songs, so he can't even go through a true death. So he has nothing left with two worlds where everyone now hates him and he can't even commit suicide. What's worse, they hate him so much that they probably won't even rescue him from under that bell and, unless he can disassemble and reassemble himself like other skeletons did, [[AndIMustScream there's a good chance he's stuck in there forever]]. Quite a grim outcome for a formerly beloved icon.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He started out as a polite person who befriends his longtime fan Miguel, but he later drops the charade when he had Héctor and Miguel tossed into a ''cenote'' after they learned of his true colors. He even taunted Héctor of his imminent fate of being forgotten after throwing Miguel off a cliff to his death, though Miguel was saved at the last minute.
* {{Foil}}: To Héctor, who despite his ConMan nature, ButtMonkey status, and [[UnkemptBeauty disheveled]] appearance, is ultimately a good person who regretted leaving his family for selfish reasons. On the other hand, Ernesto, despite his successful career, respect by millions, and [[BrightIsNotGood bright]] clothing, turns out to be a pure sociopath willing to kill anyone to get and maintain his fame. Adding to the contrast between the duo, while Héctor was a devoted (if [[ParentsAsPeople flawed]]) FamilyMan who wanted to share his music with the world, Ernesto only cared about fame and is hinted to have been someone who ReallyGetsAround, but nonetheless is implied to not have any family to visit even during El Dia De Los Muertos. Even their respective versions of "Remember Me" highlight the difference between the two men: with Héctor's version being a soft, genuinely loving and deeply personal song about asking his daughter to remember him no matter where he goes, and he wrote the song not to be famous, but ''solely'' for his daughter. While Ernesto's version is a grandiosely overblown spectacle ballad that twists the once loving and personal song into something which ''sounds'' like a romantic love song, but that's actually surface level, and his emphasis on the words ''"Remember Me"'' show that it's actually [[ItsAllAboutMe completely about himself and his desire to be remembered]]; very much like the man himself, who plays the kind and charming gentleman to people, but under the surface he's a cold, self-centered psychopath. Also, Ernesto's version, while bombastic, has no real heart and soul to it compared to Héctor's version because Ernesto ''has no'' personal connection with the song; to him, it was just another of the songs he stole from a dead man he killed out of greed.
* FreudianSlip: Right when he's about to give Miguel his blessing, Ernesto says he hopes Miguel will "die really soon". While he clearly meant he hoped he'd meet Miguel again and it just came out wrong, it hints that he's jealous of Miguel's talent and skill that he himself faked and doesn't want the boy to outshine him.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He, along with Héctor was an average Joe on the path to fame, but all that fame and glory changed him to the point where he became an insidious, heartless murderer to keep the fame.
* GloryHound: The pursuit of fame only made him more selfish, and he'll do anything to keep his fame. He killed his best friend and stole his songs, claiming all the credit for himself. When Miguel finds out the truth, he throws him in a ''cenote'' to stop him from leaving the Land of the Dead and later, Ernesto tries to kill him by throwing him off the building.
* GoodHairEvilHair: He is the only character in the film to have curly hair instead of straight hair.
* HateSink: He is a cowardly, glory-hungry sociopath who not only murders his best friend, Héctor, in order to steal his songs and pass them off as his own, but knowingly deprives Héctor of the opportunity to see his daughter to insure that he will disappear forever in the Land of the Dead. Then he [[WouldHurtAChild remorselessly throws Miguel, a 12-year-old child, off a building]] to prevent him from revealing his crimes back in the Land of the Living. And to top it all off, he has spent almost 100 years in comfort and luxury because nobody ever found out what he did. This makes his ultimate comeuppance during the film's climax all the more satisfying.
* HisOwnWorstEnemy: The tragic irony of Ernesto's immoral path to fame is that it could have been all avoided had he not been so insecure about it. He could have let Héctor return to his family and work out an exclusive deal for his songs. He could have made a film that didn't hit so close to his crime. He could have trusted Miguel to keep silent about his sins (since breaking a blessing's condition would send him back to the Land of the Dead). But time and time again, Ernesto's narcissism and pride ensures that he will pay for his sins, though the chickens won't come to roost until long after he's dead.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
** Sometime after poisoning Héctor, he wrote a similar scene into one of his movies, only with himself as the intended victim of the poisoning. During his confrontation with Héctor, that exact scene is playing on a TV in the background, which leads Miguel and Héctor to deduce the truth about Héctor's death.
** His fame and the movies he starred in guarantee that, even if freed from the bell he is trapped under, he will be doomed to suffer in disgrace for an extremely long time, unable to end his own suffering.
* IShallTauntYou: After throwing Miguel off a building with Héctor's photo, Ernesto delivers this to a horrified Héctor:
-->'''Ernesto:''' Apologies, old friend, but the show must go on!
* {{Irony}}:
** He died in 1942 during a performance courtesy of a large bell. By the end of the film, he is once again crushed by a bell, this time in the Land of the Dead. He also died 21 years after his murder of Héctor, who was only 21 at the time.
** One of his quotes is "Never underestimate the power of music". It's music that not only restores Coco's memory of Héctor, but sets off a chain reaction where people learn the truth and condemn Ernesto's shrine.
** His most famous song, one that which he had stolen, was "Remember Me", to the point that these words are engraved on his mausoleum. After being exposed as a fraud, his monument has been vandalized with a "Forget You!" sign.
** His fan who would always follow Ernesto's tips was ultimately the one who revealed him as a murdering fraud.
** ''Ernesto'' is the Spanish variation of the name ''Ernest'', which sounds and is spelled very similarly to the word ''earnest'', meaning truthful, genuine or heartfelt. And his last name is Spanish for "from the cross", meaning his name is literally "Heartfelt from the Cross". Considering that he is a liar and a fraud who wished his best friend well while handing him a poisoned drink -- a major case of IronicName.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He only cares about being rich and famous, and he doesn't care what he has to do to pursue it. Even murdering a friend [[note]] who just wanted to go home to his family [[/note]] or his supposed great-great-grandson. His catchphrase really shows how selfish he truly is. In essence, he shows the downsides of [[BeYourself fully embracing your passions]] without any regard for how it affects others.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: If Miguel thinks that there's a family man behind the narcissistic, egotistical persona who allegedly abandoned his family for stardom, he's ''[[{{Pun}} dead]]'' wrong. Ernesto ''does'' save Miguel from drowning in the pool, though he is ''not'' hesitant in killing him later on to prevent him from knowing his secret.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: His murder of Héctor and literally plagiarising his songs remained unnoticed even during his death, but once the Riveras engineer his confession in front of his adoring fans, and later viewing him outright attempting to murder a child, karma quickly catches up to him. Even in real life, his plagiarism makes its way to headlines, and his placard is literally besmirched into "Forget You!" after his misdeeds become public, and everything he stole from Héctor makes his due way back to him.
* KarmicShunning: After his true nature is revealed to both the Lands of the Living and the Dead, he becomes a pariah, losing all of his fans and becomes trapped under a giant bell with no one wanting to help him.
* LackOfEmpathy: Shows no remorse for killing Héctor and deliberately giving him a horrible afterlife for ''near a century'' to satisfy his own self-benefit. He also doesn't care when Héctor is on the verge of his true death because of him. Even his 'relationship' towards Miguel only lasts until Miguel proves to be a problem, at which point he attempts to murder him without a second thought.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Gets crushed by a bell ''again'', this time in the Land of the Dead. It's further implied that he will ultimately be unable to experience a final death, as both the Lands of the Living and the Dead will only remember him as a fraud and a murderer but they ''will'' remember him as that for a good while and the final death only happens to one who is being forgotten by everyone.
* LovedByAll: He is a revered musician who is respected throughout Mexico and the Land of the Dead, and there's even a statue and building that contains his guitar. He ends up becoming HatedByAll throughout both places after it's revealed to the public that he killed Héctor and stole all his songs.
* MadArtist: [[GloryHound He will be famous in life and death]], and he won't think twice if he needs to murder his songwriter and best friend for that. And then, he makes a movie about the murder.
* ManlyFacialHair: He sports a remarkable mustache on his face and is a renowned singer and actor, whose film character is a daring action hero. He keeps it as a skeleton and, once his true intentions are revealed, it's not that charismatic anymore.
* MilesGloriosus: His movies display him as daring and bold and brave. He even brags to Miguel that he did all his own stunts in the movies. But later, when Héctor tackles him for murdering him, he cowers and resorts to calling security to take care of his fight for him.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: See CutLexLuthorACheck above. He didn't ''have'' to murder Héctor, and could have just as likely had fame and fortune with another songwriter. But he clearly didn't think well in panic mode...
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Sure he murdered Héctor and is unrepentant about it, but the look on his face he made when he first saw him in the Land of the Dead being forgotten showed genuine sadness from it.
* {{Narcissist}}: He has his movies playing on the walls of his mansion in the Land of the Dead. Every. Single. Movie. At all times. For that matter, everything in his mansion is basically designed around him, from the swimming pool designed after his guitar to the mansion itself, which resembles his sombrero.
* NiceCharacterMeanActor: He acts nice and cheerful in his movies and onstage, but the real him is cold and cruel, and actually stole the music from Héctor to become famous.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: According to Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina, Ernesto's performances are based on well-known Mexican musicians such as Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete, and Vicente Fernández. In fact, Benjamin Bratt watched video clips of Infante and Negrete to prepare for his role.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: The shape of his head looks more resembling to when he was alive while the other skeletons have virtually nearly the same head shape. Also, while a lot of the skeletons wear multicolored clothes, he wears predominately silver, appearing almost black and white. This is a clue that he's not what he appears to be.
* NoStuntDouble: InUniverse. When Miguel watches his character's fight with Don Hidalgo in ''El Camino a Casa'' and reenacts it with Ernesto, he claims he did all of his own stunts.
* OffingTheOffspring: While still under the impression that Miguel was his great-great-grandson, Ernesto is ''still'' willing to kill him to protect his secret.
* OvershadowedByControversy: He attains this status InUniverse at the end according to the creators -- and it's going to keep him "alive" in a Land of the Dead that now despises him [[FateWorseThanDeath for a VERY long time]].
* PaperTiger: He has a fairly impressive build and keeps up an appearance of being something of a daredevil, but doesn't even ''attempt'' to defend himself when Héctor attacks him.
* PetTheDog: According to the creators, his saving Miguel was "common decency". Furthermore, he seemed genuinely fond of Miguel during their private interactions and he was legitimately going to give Miguel his blessing to go home before Héctor arrived.
* PhotoOpWithTheDog: If rescuing Miguel from the pool in the crowded foyer doesn't qualify as this, parading Miguel around the mansion as his great-great-grandson definitely does.
* PlagiarismInFiction: His songs aren't actually from him, but from Héctor.
* PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes: The Polite Villain to Héctor's Rude Hero. Before and after the The Reveal that he is the Big Bad, Ernesto is smooth, charming, and well-dressed in contrast to Héctor, who is the mischievous, snarky, and roguish Deuteragonist of the film.
* PosthumousCharacter: Assuming the movie takes place in 2017, Ernesto had been dead for at least 75 years by the time the movie's events take place.
* PragmaticVillainy: He does bond with Miguel and looks like he genuinely was going to give him his blessings until Héctor showed up, and he doesn't change his [[FauxAffablyEvil affable tone]] until [[HeKnowsTooMuch Miguel realizes the truth about him]].
* RagsToRiches: He was a simple music businessman who was friends with Héctor until he poisoned the latter's tequila and stole his songs and guitar, thereby achieving fame in both the Land of the Living and the Land of the Dead.
* ReallyGetsAround: {{Implied|Trope}}. He was unmarried and was shown to be a ChickMagnet in his life, and when Miguel states that he is Ernesto's great-great-grandson, the musician is surprised but also believes the statement relatively quickly. A subtle ParentalBonus moment.
* RedemptionRejection: An interesting example that occurs before revealing he committed murder. Héctor is willing to get over Ernesto stealing credit for his music if it means letting him get his photo back in the world of the living, telling him it's a chance to make things right. At this point, neither Miguel nor Héctor is aware of Ernesto's murder of the latter, so he has no reason to fear his secret being revealed. Instead, Ernesto tries to dissuade his former friend, showing he values his fame even when there's no possibility of it being compromised.
* RescueIntroduction: When Miguel falls into Ernesto's guitar-shaped swimming pool in the palace, he ends up rescuing him.
* RobbingTheDead: Big time. After murdering Héctor, Ernesto took his guitar, his music, his family's respect for him, his duly deserved fame and fortune, and his chance to see his daughter again, all to further his own career. However, Miguel returns the guitar (though is allowed to keep it for himself later) and fame to its rightful owner once and for all.
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Lets out a high-pitched scream (which he hides as a ''grito'') when Imelda stomps on his foot to steal Héctor's picture back.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Ernesto and Héctor, in life. Ernesto was the macho singer who was alright with murdering his best friend to achieve fame and fortune, while Héctor was the sensitive songwriter who intended to give up on his dream of being famous to go back to his family. This also comes through in the way both he and Héctor sing and play music. Ernesto plays and sings in a loud, bombastic way while Héctor's playing and singing is much more soft and tender.
* SexyPriest: Ernesto was a ChickMagnet in life and played a priest in his career as an actor, as shown in one of his movie scenes at his mansion.
* ShadowArchetype:
** To Héctor -- Ernesto represents Héctor if the latter let fame change him to the point of being devoid of any ''true'' familial love for his relatives.
** To Miguel -- Ernesto represents Miguel if the latter had let his own self-interest become more important than his loved ones. What's more telling, both Ernesto and Miguel perform [[KickTheDog hurtful]] acts in the pursuit of their goals, but while Miguel realizes his mistakes and [[PetTheDog makes it up]], Ernesto doesn't.
* SicklyGreenGlow: While Héctor is being processed by customs, a picture of de la Cruz is illuminated by the light emanating from the green lampshade of the lamp on the officer's desk. Later, when Héctor confronts de la Cruz, and subsequently calls on security to escort him out, de la Cruz is illuminated by a bright neon light as he has Miguel escorted out as a security threat.
* SignatureSong: An InUniverse example. "Remember Me" is his most popular song, or so it originally seems.
* SmugSnake: It takes a special kind of smug to take the moment you poisoned your former best friend and business partner and add the ''entire scene'' to one of your movies, giving the villain the exact thing you said then while rewriting yourself as the hero who unlike reality realizes his tequila was poisoned. So smug in the fact that seeing the scene gives Héctor an epiphany of what ''really'' happened the night he died.
** To top it off, the movie in question is titled ''El Camino a Casa'', which translates to ''The Way Home''. It can't get any more copycat-ish than that.
* TheSocialDarwinist: Of the Struggler and Straw Meritocrat types. He's willing to do what it takes to be successful, even if he has to murder his own best friend to achieve fame. [[TheUnfettered And he's not squeamish about this]].
* TheSociopath: A particularly creepy example, he comes off as a kind, fatherly, lovable sort of person whom anyone would want to know. In reality, he's a frighteningly arrogant murderer willing to off anyone -- including his best friend and supposed great-great grandson, a ''child'' -- who gets in his way without a moment's hesitation or regret. He also displays the poor impulse control, as murdering Hector largely only worked out due to something outside of his control and he couldn't resist practically bragging about his murder in his movies.
* SpitTake: He does this in one of his movies (''El Camino a Casa'') with thanks to Don Hidalgo (the movie's villain) poisoning the drink. It's what causes Héctor to remember his last night alive, where Ernesto poisoned him exactly the same way, along with the same dialogue from the movie.
* StartOfDarkness: Poisoning Héctor was solidified in his mind his "Seize your Moment" philosophy that he directly attributes to his success. On some level, he does feel bad about his friend's death, but he refuses to apologize for it, as it was ''the'' moment that truly allowed him to achieve his dream.
* StealthPun: Ernesto was crushed to death by a bell just as he finished singing the last note of "Remember Me" while performing at a concert. He literally went out on a high note.
* StrawHypocrite: Ultimately he doesn't at all practice what he preaches. An interview of him when he was alive showed him saying he had faith in his dream because no one was going to give it to him when, in real life, he had no faith in his dream and was angry his former best friend wasn't willing to give him any more songs, so he murdered him and stole the credit. There's also him featured in movies where he talks about how to never underestimate the power of music when it turns out he has no artistic merit or care and only saw music as a greater means of getting rich and famous.
* StupidEvil:
** Putting in a movie the way you murdered your friend along with the exact words you said to him isn't just unoriginal but doesn't exactly scream brilliant (although granted, the only other person who could possibly know about that was said murdered friend, so Ernesto really had no reason to suspect it might come back to bite him).
** Another example of his [[SarcasmMode brilliant mind]] is when he tries to kill Miguel by tossing him off the skyscraper. Even if he had succeeded, his actions [[EngineeredPublicConfession have already been exposed on live TV]], so Ernesto still would have suffered a FateWorseThanDeath involving a ZeroPercentApprovalRating in the afterlife.
** His whole murder of Héctor and the complete theft of his songs and guitar. Hadn't Imelda imposed a music ban on her family due to anger at her husband abandoning her, it wouldn't have taken as long as Ernesto getting into the afterlife before being exposed due to Imelda easily recognizing Héctor's style.
* SymbolicBlood: As he's being booed by the angry crowd at the Sunrise Spectacular after his crimes are exposed, someone shouts "Murderer!" and he gets hit by a tomato, leaving a red splatter on his jacket that looks like a blood stain.
* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: He poisoned Héctor's tequila, resulting in the latter's death.
* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Has shades of this with Héctor. Héctor is the sincere, heart-felt Performer to Ernesto's polished and pristine but emotionally vacant Technician. It's especially apparent in how they both sing "Remember Me": Ernesto turned it into a cheesy love ballad aimed at no one in particular, while Héctor originally wrote it as a lullaby for his beloved daughter. And then, there's the fact that Ernesto stole Héctor's songs because he knew he wasn't gifted enough to make it on his own artistic merit.
* TranquilFury: He hid his fury when he poisoned Héctor's tequila.
* UndignifiedDeath: His death was by a stagehand being entertained by his singing enough to accidentally push the lever that let go of a large bell above Ernesto, crushing him.
* TheUnfettered: Ernesto is willing to do ''anything'' to secure his success, including murdering his best friend to steal his songs, and condemning the boy he believes to be his great-great-grandson to his death to cover up his secret.
-->'''Ernesto:''' Success doesn't come for free. You have to do whatever it takes to... ''[[IronicEcho seize your moment]]''.
* VillainousBreakdown: When he holds Miguel hostage his demeanor changes from a calm and suave singer to a desperate and angry man willing to murder a child.
* VileVillainSaccharineShow: A coming-of-age movie with cartoony skeletons and a goofy dog with a long tongue features the first Pixar villain (and first Disney villain since [[WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog Dr. Facilier]]) to successfully murder a character on-screen (and unlike Facilier, Ernesto actually murdered another human whereas Facilier simply crushed a bug).
* VillainInAWhiteSuit: In the Land of the Dead, he is dressed in an immaculate white suit, fitting for his shining celebrity reputation and his sinister personality.
* VillainousRescue: He dove in to rescue Miguel from drowning in his mansion's swimming pool after meeting him for the first time. The creators make it clear he did it out of "common decency".
* VillainSong: His version of "Remember Me". It was originally a soft and solemn ballad that Héctor wrote for Coco so that she could remember him; Ernesto eventually twisted it into a big showstopping number that the ''world'' could remember him for. The way they perform the songs best represents them; the songwriter wrote a heartfelt ballad for someone he knew for her, and the singer portrayed it as a bombastic number aimed at no one so that everyone will idolize him. Even though it doesn't fit the way a villain song is usually sung, namely the villain singing about his evil intentions, it's instead the context of stealing something personal and using it for personal gain that is later revealed when Miguel learns where the song came from.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Despite being the BigBad of the film, Ernesto's quite beloved in his home country and in the Land of the Dead. At least until the Rivera family exposes his evil intentions at the Sunrise Spectacular.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Héctor claims they used to be friends and he taught Ernesto everything he knows, even though they don't associate currently. Since it's [[ConMan Héctor]] it's hard to know how truthful he's being at first. It turns out that they ''were'' best friends but that ended because Ernesto took credit for all of Héctor's songs after he died in 1921. Then moments after the audience finds that out, Héctor finds out Ernesto actually murdered him for those songs making him a BigBadFriend.
* WickedPretentious: He's a musician, singer, and actor who's proficient with folk songs like "La Llorona" as well as modern ones, and he takes the time to admire Miguel's performance. However, he has no genuine appreciation for whatever art form he performs. Everything he does, he does for fame and attention.
* WouldHurtAChild: He's willing to throw Miguel into a ''cenote'' with Héctor after his true identity is revealed. Later, he attempts to send Miguel falling to his death. This is what ultimately turns the Land of the Dead against him, along with the EngineeredPublicConfession airing at that time.
* YouMonster: After the Land of the Dead finds out he killed his best friend and throws Miguel off a building, one of the audience members calls him "Murderer!"[[/folder]]
[[folder:Chicharrón]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/olmoscoco.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: "Like the time you promised to bring back my van? Or my mini-fridge? Or my good napkins? My lasso? My femur?!"]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/EdwardJamesOlmos (English), Creator/VictorTrujillo (Latin American Spanish)[[note]]'''Other Languages:''' Katsuhisa Hōki (Japanese), So Cheong-hwan (Korean), Peter Groeger (German), Guy Nadon (Canadian French), Patrick Raynal (European French)[[/note]]
A "friend" of Héctor's, living with all the other skeletons who do not get offerings on Día de los Muertos. He is forgotten and [[DeaderThanDead disappears for good]] shortly after he is introduced.
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