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Main Characters
Rapunzel
"You can't keep me locked away from the world forever!"
- Voiced by: Kelly Sheridan
A kind young woman living in a hidden manor in the woods, and the main protagonist of the story. Her adoptive caretaker Gothel raised Rapunzel as a servant in her enchanted manor for seventeen years, never telling her of her true origins or her family.
- Adaptational Hairstyle Change: Rapunzel's hair is still unusually long, reaching her ankles, but it isn't as impressively long as her hair is indicated to be in the original story; in the latter Rapunzel's hair is long enough to pull people up a tower. Here, this plot-point is Adapted Out save for a dream sequence, so it's not necessary for her hair to be so long.
- Cope by Creating: She often paints as an escape from her miserable living situation, including painting places she dreams of visiting one day once she's free. Her painting skills come in handy when she gains a magic paintbrush that turns her paintings into portals to real-world locations.
- Damsel out of Distress: She manages to get out of most the scrapes she finds herself of her own accord quite easily.
- Deceptive Legacy: Rapunzel's guardian Gothel always told her that her unloving parents abandoned her, but Rapunzel starts to realize this doesn't add up when she finds a hairbrush engraved with a loving birthday message from her parents. Rapunzel eventually learns that Gothel kidnapped her from her parents and they've never stopped trying to find her. Oh, and she's a princess to boot.
- Defiant Captive: Rapunzel has her moments of this.
- By action, Rapunzel always finds a way out of the manor. The first time? She went through a secret passageway. When Gothel turns her room into a doorless tower? She created a portal with her magic paintbrush. After Gothel casts a barrier to keep her and her "lying heart" permanently trapped? She phases through the barrier as she, Hobie, and Penelope fly off to confront Gothel.
- By words, see quote below her image.
- Doorstop Baby: Gothel claims that Rapunzel is this, telling her that her parents abandoned her on Gothel's doorstep as an infant. Rapunzel had no reason to doubt this story for most of her life. However, she starts to suspect this isn't true and it's eventually revealed Gothel kidnapped her.
- Fallen Princess: She was kidnapped from her birth parents when she was just a baby and raised as a servant by Gothel, who lied to her all her life about her origins and past family. Once Gothel is defeated and imprisoned in the manor, Rapunzel is able to reunite with her parents and marries Prince Stefan.
- Girl in the Tower: Zig-zagged. Rapunzel initially acts as Gothel's servant in a spacious manor, with a magical barrier preventing her from leaving the grounds. However, after she finds a way past the magic wall and meets a man in the nearby town, Gothel turns her room into a tower to stop Rapunzel from leaving again. Rapunzel finds a way out anyway, thanks to the magic paintbrush, and resolves to leave for good, but Gothel destroys her escape route and casts a spell to seal her in the tower forever. Thanks to the Exact Words of Gothel's spell, Rapunzel is able to escape once more and traps Gothel inside the tower, where she can never harm Rapunzel or the people she loves again.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Her signature dress is purple.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She has long blonde hair and is a sweet, innocent young woman.
- Improbable Hairstyle: Subverted. Unlike in the fairy tale, Rapunzel's hair just reaches the floor. That's actually possible in real life, depending on the person's genes. She also keeps it braided so that it's out of the way. And she's only imprisoned in the tower for a day or two, making the maintenance believable.
- Long Hair Is Feminine: Rapunzel is known for her extremely long hair, which matches her feminine personality.
- Love at First Sight: She falls for Stefan the moment she meets him, an event that's lampshaded by Hobie.Rapunzel: He was the most handsome man I've ever seen!Hobie: And you've seen how many men before?
- Official Couple: With Stefan.
- Princesses Prefer Pink: Her regular servant dress is pink, while her gown for the masquerade ball is lavender with pink accents.
- Rags to Royalty: A Goose Girl example, as Rapunzel was kidnapped as a baby by Gothel and forced into servitude before she finally discovers her true identity.
- Really Royalty Reveal: She discovers that she's the missing daughter of King Wilhelm, who Gothel kidnapped as a baby to punish Wilhelm for not marrying her. Once Gothel is defeated, she's able to reunite with her birth parents.
- Traumatic Haircut: As per the original fairy tale. Gothel slices Rapunzel's hair off with magic so she can disguise herself as Rapunzel at the ball. Somewhat softened by the fact that Rapunzel's remaining hair still falls past her shoulders and it's grown completely back by the epilogue.
Prince Stefan
"Thank you for saving my sister."
- Voiced by: Mark Hildreth
A brave and loyal prince and Rapunzel's love interest. The pair first encounter each other when Rapunzel first sneaks out of her enchanted manor and arrives in a nearby village.
- Big Brother Instinct: When Gothel tries to attack Tommy during the masquerade ball, Stefan immediately puts himself in the way of her magic, shielding his younger brother.
- Cool Big Bro: He's shown to be very pleasant and jovial with his younger siblings, and lightly teases Tommy when he almost hits Stefan with an arrow.
- Official Couple: With Rapunzel.
- Prince Charming: He's a handsome, brave, and friendly prince.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Stefan is implied to have never given the matter between his and King Wilhelm's kingdoms much deep thought prior, but comes to realize very quickly that the kingdoms' feud is very petty and shows kindness to even his more incompetent soldiers.
- Rescue Romance: He first meets Rapunzel when she saves his sister from falling into a pit trap, and shows up just in time to prevent her from falling in herself.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: He takes an active interest in stopping the feud between his and King Wilhelm's kingdoms, and chases after Gothel himself when she crashes the masquerade ball.
Hobie
"Why does the old hag do anything other than torment people?"
- Voiced by: Ian James Corlett
A worrisome rabbit who lives in the manor with Rapunzel.
- Deadpan Snarker: Has his moments, such as this gem:Hobie: That's the understatement of the 17th century!
- Lovable Coward: He's easily frightened and overly dramatic, but he's still incredibly loyal to Rapunzel and supports her no matter what.
- Super-Hearing: He has a very sensitive sense of hearing, which he often uses to warn Rapunzel of Gothel's actions.
- This Is Gonna Suck: When confronted by Gothel and Otto:Hobie: I'm gonna become ferret food!
- Trademark Favorite Food: Carrots. Crosses over with Stock Animal Diet.
Penelope
"What? You don't think I got moves? 'Cause I got moves!"
- Voiced by: Cree Summer
A sweet-natured dragon and one of Rapunzel's closest friends.
- Acrophobic Bird: She's terrified of flying too high up, something her father is deeply disappointed by. She eventually gets over her fears by flying Rapunzel out of the tower when Gothel imprisons her there.
- Calling the Old Man Out: After spending most of the movie being quietly intimidated by her father Hugo, she finally loses patience and calls him out for his mistrust of Rapunzel, and tells him that Rapunzel only came back to the manor because Penelope asked her to help save Hugo.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: She's pretty ungainly, and her big tail and untrained fire and strength can come up at the worst times (and yet it conveniently works out for the plot).
- Nice Girl: She's very friendly and helpful, and looks out for Rapunzel when Gothel gives her a hard time.
- "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: She's both deeply afraid of and greatly respects her father Hugo, who's very emotionally distant to her and has high expectations for her. He gets better by the end of the story.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: She absolutely hates bugs.
Allies and Minor Characters
Hugo
"You said one with a lying heart will be imprisoned forever. Rapunzel never lied, but you, Gothel..."
- Voiced by: David Kaye
Gothel's dragon servant and Penelope's father.
- Casting Gag: He's a purple dragon voiced by David Kaye. Sounds familiar. (Though it should be noted Megatron was a purple T-rex, then a red dragon.)
- The Dog Bites Back: Upon being freed thanks to Rapunzel tricking Gothel into returning back to the tower, Hugo flies off, but not before telling Gothel that neither Gothel's magic, nor his own abilities, can get her out of the tower as the spell prevents any liar from ever leaving the tower, including Gothel herself.
- The Dragon: A rare literal example, he's a loyal servant to Gothel as her main mode of transport in addition to being a dragon. However, he turns on her in the end to help Rapunzel.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Hugo is extremely stern with his daughter, but otherwise loves her dearly.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: He decides to help Rapunzel escape from the manor after Gothel chains him up as punishment for his daughter's lack of loyalty to her.
- Perpetual Frowner: His default expression is a a flat scowl, and Penelope glumly remarks that she's never seen her father smile. He finally starts to genuinely smile when Penelope proves her bravery to him and helps Rapunzel escape from the enchanted tower.
- Purple Is Powerful: He has dull purple scales and is incredibly powerful.
- So Proud of You: He warmly tells Penelope that she truly is a "mighty dragon" when she rescues Rapunzel from the enchanted tower.
King Wilhelm
"Your mother and I have never stopped thinking about you."
- Voiced by: Christopher Gaze
Rapunzel's biological father.
- Feuding Families: He has had a bitter rivalry with Stefan's father Frederick for the past sixteen years, believing that Frederick was the one responsible for his daughter's disappearance. Once she returns safely, he realizes his mistake and mends the rift with the other king.
- The Good King: He's a very capable ruler and an expert warrior.
- Good Parents: He loves his daughter immensely and spent the past sixteen years searching for her when she was abducted.
- Just Friends: Upon recognizing Gothel at the climax, Wilhlem comments that they were friends many years ago. He seems genuinely shocked by her assertion that he was in love with her.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He has this reaction when he realizes that he's been perpetuating a war against his neighboring kingdom for no reason other than a lie, and profusely apologizes to King Frederick when the truth is revealed.
- Oblivious to Love: Heavily implied. His reaction to Gothel's admission that everything she did was out of love for him is of utter bafflement, and he asserts that they were only ever friends and nothing more.
- Papa Wolf: When his baby daughter was kidnapped, he went to war to try to get her back.
- You Monster!: He screams this to Gothel when she reveals that she was the one who stole Rapunzel.
King Frederick
"When you are older, you will understand."
- Voiced by: Russell Roberts
Prince Stefan's father and the current ruler of his family's kingdom.
- Adipose Rex: He's a bit on the chunky side.
- Expy: Of King Hubert of Sleeping Beauty.
- Feuding Families: He and Wilhelm have a bitter rivalry between their kingdoms, stemming from an incident sixteen years ago when Wilhelm's daughter was abducted, an act Wilhelm blamed Frederick for. Once Rapunzel returns safely and reveals the truth, the two kings put aside their feud and make amends.
- The Good King: He's very well-respected among his people and is considered a very just ruler.
Princesses Katrina, Melody, and Lorena
"Aww!" "Gee!" "That's beautiful!"
- Voiced by: Chantal Strand (Katrina), Britt McKillip (Melody), Jocelyne Loewen (Lorena)
Stefan's three younger sisters.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Katrina is the blonde, Melody is the brunette, and Lorena is the redhead.
- Princesses Prefer Pink: Katrina wears a pink dress.
- Shipper on Deck: They immediately support Rapunzel's budding romance with Stefan.
Prince Tommy
"Did you see that? Almost a bull's eye!"
- Voiced by: Danny McKinnion
Prince Stefan's active younger brother.
- Big Brother Worship: He greatly admires Stefan and constantly strives for his approval.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: When Gothel attacks the masquerade ball, Tommy tries to chase her off by firing an arrow at her, despite being clearly outmatched.
Antagonists
Gothel
"I've taken care of you since you were a baby and this is how you thank me?"
- Voiced by: Anjelica Huston
A wicked sorceress who once had a romantic attachment to King Wilhelm, but never gained his affections in return. When he married another woman and had a daughter, Gothel decided to enact her revenge by kidnapping Wilhelm's daughter Rapunzel to raise her as a servant.
- Abusive Parents: She's incredibly emotionally abusive to Rapunzel, who she treats like a servant and berates for almost every little thing. She even refuses to allow Rapunzel to call her anything other than "milady".
- Adaptational Badass: The witch in the original tale never displayed much magic. Gothel here is able to use her magic to create the tower in the first place and imprison someone inside it forever. She's also able to keep three men armed with swords on the defensive in the climax, handily demonstrating that she can take them out with magic faster than they can attack.
- Adaptational Villainy: Gothel wasn't an ideal mother in the original story, but she wasn't an emotionally abusive slave-driver to Rapunzel like she is here. She's also revealed to have kidnapped Rapunzel out of petty revenge against Wilhelm and kicked off a war as a result, none of which happened in the source material.
- Big "NEVER!": She says this when Rapunzel tries to reason with and forgive her for everything Gothel has done all these years and wants both of them to start over. Gothel assumes Rapunzel is doing these just to make her look foolish.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Gothel has a habit of reacting to minor slights with extreme aggression. When Rapunzel refuses to tell Gothel the name of the man she met on her trip out of the manor (because she has no idea what it is), Gothel destroys her art supplies and turns her room into a tower. And in the past, she abducted Rapunzel from her birth family all because King Wilhelm didn't return her affections for him.
- Driven by Envy: Gothel believed Wilhelm was in love with her and was furious when he married another woman. She kidnapped the infant Rapunzel in retaliation, rationalizing that Rapunzel should have been her daughter anyway. Gothel spends much of the movie proper working to deny Rapunzel any chance of reuniting with her birth parents, indicating that her grudge has not faded with the passing years.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: She demonstrates this twice. First, she continually accuses Rapunzel of dishonesty, not once trusting her when she says she doesn’t know Stefan’s name. It never crosses her mind that perhaps, Rapunzel is telling the truth. Second, when Gothel goes on a monologue about how he should've loved her, Wilhelm angrily sums up that Gothel doesn't understand what it means to love. Given how she treats her surrogate daughter Rapunzel (despite believing she's the daughter she and Wilhelm could've had), he's got her pegged.
- Evil Is Petty: She kidnapped a baby from her birth family and started a war between two kingdoms all because King Wilhelm didn't return her feelings in their youth. Even after being punished by being locked up inside the tower for the rest of her life, she decides to compensate this by forcing her pet ferret Otto to do all of chores that Rapunzel used to do.
- Evil Sorceress: She has magic powers that range from casting a spell to trap someone in a tower forever to Agony Beams that could kill a person.
- Fatal Flaw: Gothel has two of them: her hypocrisy when it comes to lying and her inability to see that Rapunzel is being honest with her. It's these two flaws that lead her to unknowingly create what will become her own prison and be trapped in it forever.
- Freudian Excuse: Admittedly a rather weak one, but she kidnapped Rapunzel solely for revenge against Wilhelm because he didn't return her feelings for him. The way she talks about it at the end after revealing her motives (and the portrait of her and Wilhelm that had Wilhelm's face slashed out) implies she did genuinely love him once.
- Hypocrite: She's utterly furious when she believes Rapunzel is lying to her about not knowing Stefan's name. She conveniently ignores the fact that she herself has been lying to Rapunzel for the girl's entire life. She also often accuses Rapunzel of being ungrateful to her, despite being an Ungrateful Bastard herself who shows little appreciation for Rapunzel's hard work and Hugo's service.
- Implacable Man: Her magic makes her pretty much unbeatable, and this results in the final battle being mostly one big chase.
- Insane Troll Logic: In her eyes, Rapunzel would have been her daughter if Wilhelm had married her, so when she took Rapunzel as a baby, she was simply taking what was hers.
- Karmic Death: Gothel curses the tower so that no one with a lying heart can ever escape. Rapunzel was honest the whole time, so she is able to leave. But when Gothel (who had been lying to everyone about everything throughout the entire movie) is tricked into returning to the tower, she's stuck there forever (especially since she made the spell unbreakable too). It's implied that Gothel ultimately dies of old age or at least starvation.
- Kick the Dog: She destroys Rapunzel's paintings, and later her brush (which was the only thing Rapunzel had left of her parents), and reminds her how worthless she is purely out of spite.
- Laser-Guided Karma: She tries to imprison Rapunzel in the tower forever for her “lying heart” by casting a spell that traps those who lie forever. However, instead, Gothel ends up imprisoned in it forever as it is she who has a real lying heart, not Rapunzel. A fitting punishment for a hypocritical liar.
- Love Makes You Evil: Her unrequited love for Wilhelm drove her to kidnap his baby daughter and frame Frederick for it, all for payback against him for not returning her feelings.
- Not Good with Rejection: She took Wilhelm's rejection of her affections as a personal offence, and abducted his newborn daughter to "punish" him for not choosing her.
- Oh, Crap!: Gothel places a spell inside the tower to prevent Rapunzel from leaving when the latter is unable to identify who Stefan was at the moment. However, upon being tricked into returning into the enchanted tower by Rapunzel, Gothel tries to invoke her magic to undo the spell, which proved to be fruitless. A freed Hugo then points out that the spell will only imprison those with a lying heart, and that Rapunzel never lied, which is the reason why she was able to escape. Hugo also points out that since Gothel has repeatedly lied to others, she is now locked up in the tower forever until she dies. The echoes of Gothel's words when she casted the spell is what drove her to fall down to her knees in shame, realizing that she screwed herself up big time.
- Sickly Green Glow: Her magic has a greenish glow.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Gothel kidnapped Rapunzel to start a war between two kingdoms that almost killed a little girl, is emotionally abusive to Rapunzel and her friends, is powerful enough to enslave dragons, and her magic makes her almost unstoppable and spends the majority of the final battle chasing everyone.
- Villainous Cheekbones: She has a thin face and very high cheekbones, in addition to being a cruel and contemptuous Wicked Witch.
- White Hair, Black Heart: Has white hair and is an emotionally abusive control freak of a woman.
- Wicked Witch: A more glamorous version than the usual example. She can use her powers to cast spells, and tries to kill multiple people with them at the climax.
- Woman Scorned: Big time. She believed King Wilhelm was in love with her, but he never thought of her as more than a friend. When he married another woman and had a child with her, Gothel kidnapped the baby Rapunzel to make him suffer.
- Would Hurt a Child: She scares away the princesses with her magic and tries to kill Tommy.
Otto
"My mistress is ready for her beauty nap. Step to it, girl!"
- Voiced by: Peter Kelamis
Gothel's sneaky pet ferret and personal spy.
- Defeat Means Menial Labor: Following Gothel's defeat, he's shown to be carrying out the numerous chores Rapunzel was forced to do all her life, and bitterly complains when Gothel shouts for him to bring her tea and biscuits.
- Non-Human Sidekick: He serves as this to Gothel.
- Parrot Pet Position: Often sits on Gothel's shoulder.
- Predators Are Mean: He regularly threatens to eat Hobie, even in the presence of Rapunzel.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: His accent seems to be a mish-mash of French and Dutch.
